Corvette Stingray Coupe

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
Coupe

There's a phrase automotive journalists have to endure when talking to the brand's employees and PR people. It's: "We can't comment on possible or future products." It's a stone wall we run up against often, but in a podcast for Corvette Blogger, Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter spoke at length about the new Chevrolet C8 Corvette, and was pressed on the subject of an electric-powered version of the car. His answer was telling.

Juechter, inevitably, pointed out that he can't comment on future products, "but, you know, Corvette is part of General Motors, and part of General Motor's mission, you know, from the top of the company, is zero, zero, zero. So, zero emissions is part of our mission. Now, that's a future state. We'll get there eventually, so that's our job to continue to work towards that."

That makes sense, and if all-electric cars do become the overwhelming majority, an all-electric Corvette will become a certainty. However, the fact that we just got a whole new platform for the Corvette means GM isn't expecting it to go all-electric in a hurry. It's going to take time to recoup the cost and longer than the last generation's 5-year lifespan.

Juechter knows electrification is coming, but it's a case of "How fast, and how do you do it? That's part of our job."

Of course, the idea of electrification could already be baked into the C8 Corvette and a small part of the reason why the mid-engine layout finally got the go-ahead. This is the purest of pure speculation, but the long hood wouldn't be ideal for an electric layout. That doesn't mean we would see the current generation go electric, but the style would be suitable for continuation with a more compact drivetrain. But, as Juechter made clear in the podcast, it's Chevy's job to figure that out.