Chevrolet Camaro could go electric

As HSV’s new $86K MY19 Chevrolet Camaro coupe and its $160K 477kW ZL1 flagship roll into showrooms following a cool $10 million investment in its conversion facilities, reports from the US suggest the bow-tie brand’s famous V8 muscle car could be axed after the current generation.

According to GMAuthority.com, sources within General Motors (GM) have confirmed the next-generation Camaro development program will be suspended.

Several factors are at play, including GM's desire to rationalise its vehicle platforms and a significant drop in Chevrolet Camaro sales in the USA, where the Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger now dominate sales.

With a seventh-generation model reportedly in limbo, from around 2023 Chevrolet’s iconic V8 sports car could be discontinued for the second time in its history.

There are two apparent options available to GM, the first being to wait until 2025 when the car-maker's new-generation rear-drive platform (VSS-R) comes online, which will also form the basis of several new Cadillac models.

But what about a Camaro without a V8? In fact, imagine it had no petrol engine at all.

Well, that's the second option, to develop a new two-door, all-electric Chevy sports coupe that may indeed wear the Camaro badge. And it's this option that is understood to be the favoured direction within GM.

The former head of the Camaro program, Al Oppenheiser, has been reassigned to head up GM's EV program, which is expected to spawn lots of new battery-electric vehicles in the next decade. The current bullish objective is to release EVs by 2023.

These EVs will be based on a new platform architecture that's understood to be very flexible, with front-, rear- and all-wheel drive layouts available across a number of body styles – including two-door coupes.

If you think a tyre-frying Chevy Camaro doesn't fit the brand's ethos, think again because one already exists. The eCopo Camaro concept has already proven the concept, and ripped through the quarter-mile in 9.837sec, which is neck-snappingly fast.

Pumping out a cool 700hp (522kW), the electric drag car bangs out just over 800Nm of torque and is certainly a match for the blown 6.2-litre Camaro ZL1. However until battery tech improves, cruising range may be a sticking point for many potential buyers.

At this stage it's too early to know whether the next-generation Camaro – whether it’s an EV or not – will be offered in Australia, but you can bet that HSV will be watching this space very closely.