The fine, fine folks over at Car & Driver spotted a trademark filing made by General Motors for “Corvette E-Ray,” which probably means they’re going to ruin the Corvette soon.
The trademark filing was made on Dec. 16, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, about three weeks after General Motors applied for a patent for a “Hybrid Powertrain and Modular Rear Drive Unit.”
Wait, what … so you’re saying hybrid, mid-engine brown manual Corvette could be real? Kill my mind.
The patent filing from Nov. 26, 2015 details a hybrid powertrain that would relate to a similar “Hybrid Powertrain and Modular Rear Drive Unit For Same” that GM has had for a while.
(The new patent application doesn’t directly specify “mid-engined Corvette,” but we all know that’s what they’re talking about.)
Like Car & Driver pointed out, any addition of “E” power to the current C7 ‘Ray would be unlikely — there’s little to gain other than endless entertainment watching Internet forums melt.
But there is value in possibly hybridizing future Corvette models, which is now the likely future for Nissan’s GT-R, Porsche’s cars, and the like. However, short of the 911, most of those cars aren’t so intimately married to a specific powertrain: i.e. small block, pushrod V8s.
H/T to Bozi for strong patent game.
Maybe Chevy is just trying to block competitors from certain design approaches, with no intent to produce such a car.
You really want to set TTAC off? Tell them it uses a 2.0 Turbo. Made in China.
Telsa fighter or just e-assist? Maybe route the e-boost to the front wheels when the V8 is just smoking the rears on corner exit? Lots of possibilities here, including doing nothing with this patent.
Look – all they need to do is rework the cooling system and add AWD to be able to put down that power. They should stop dicking around.
The base stingray is already at 3.9 or is it 3.8 to 60 mph. It doesn’t need any help.
The supercharged trims on the other hand could certainly use the help of awd and get amazing 0-60 times, but we’re talking a lot of extra weight here.
It sounds like electric motor assist on the front wheels are what they’re going to add.
A mid-engine Corvette with hybrid power would piss off the traditionalists even if it used a V8. On the other hand, it would be a Boxster/Cayman killer.
If they wanted electric assist for the ‘Vette, why not just partner up and use the Protean motor-in-wheel technology? It could add close to 200 lb/ft per wheel. Check out their website. I learned about Protean on “Autoline After Hours”, the weekly on-line auto discussion interview show at Autoline. It looks like a promising advancement in electric power/assist.
Unsprung mass is not your friend.
If GM were to move forward with this, it would mostly likely be a variant with the V8 still being offered.
If that is the case, then I fail to see how this would be a problem. The Porsche 918 and Mclaren P1 are both hybrids.
I’d think it more likely to use a version of the 4.0L DOHC V8 being developed for Cadillac.
““Corvette E-Ray,” which probably means they’re going to ruin the Corvette soon.”
Yeah, sure, they’re going to ruin it. Sorry, but if it is on the table to create a Tesla-fighter, not a thing wrong with that, just technology moving forward, and the Corvette is just such a car to do that with.
I find such a possibility, if it exists, fascinating, but I’m still optimistic about the future and don’t look back, except for some aspects of function and style.
As an atypical C7 owner, I agree with you. While I find the LT1 engine intoxicating, one must progress or risk becoming irrelevant. The Corvette is the platform to do this with – I couldn’t agree more. I’d miss that beautiful exhaust roar, but power being put down to all four wheels would tame that nasty oversteer that seems to occur when you nail the throttle on anything but flat pavement…
I don’t think the patent application is for a Corvette drivetrain. The Corvette has a rear transaxle, driven by a driveshaft inside a torque tube. The patent application describes a powertrain with a transmission driven directly by the crankshaft. The differential has a motor-generator hooked to it, but no transmission. Also, the patent application concerns an all-wheel-drive setup and I don’t think the Corvette will ever be anything but RWD. Finally, part of the patent seems to be the rear subframe used to attach the differential to the body. The drawings look to me to be similar to the rear subframe on the GM Alpha platform. My guess is that it’s for a Cadillac.
http://www.patentsencyclopedia.com/app/20150336573
Corvette E-Ray was registered as a trademark. Serial number 86850510.
To stay at the leading edge of performance, the Corvette has to go all-wheel drive and hybrid. Like it or not, that’s where performance cars are headed. A new Tesla Roadster is on the horizon and the Corvette won’t be able to touch it with ICE and RWD technology. It’s already getting spanked on acceleration by an overweight family sedan (Model S), so it’s time to move on.
This is more likely related to the mid-engined Corvette prototypes spotted over the past year than to a conventional front-engined RWD ‘Vette.
A hybrid Corvette. The batteries take over once engine blows.
You win the internet today.