Earlier this year, General Motors teased the first-ever hybrid Corvette, rumored to be called the E-Ray. The car has been spotted testing in prototype form on the Nurburgring, looking incredibly fast. First reported by Motor.es, which has more pictures of the sorry-looking Vette, the E-Ray was testing in Southern Europe when it caught fire. We have a couple of our own pictures where you can see the hybrid sports car in flames on the side of a winding mountain road. A photo taken later reveals the aftermath, with the prototype being reduced to a charred pile of metal.

Sources say the test mule had smoke coming out of the rear end the day prior to the fire. An engineer noticed that the car was possibly leaking oil, which could have ignited the flames. So to everyone claiming GM electrified cars all catch fire (in reference to the Bolt fires), this issue was likely related to the Corvette's combustion engine, not the batteries.

"A Corvette development vehicle undergoing extreme testing by one of our suppliers this week had a thermal incident. All who were involved are safe as this is our top priority. We are investigating the situation with the supplier," a Chevy spokesperson told CarBuzz.

UPDATE: Chevy confirmed this prototype did not feature any electrified drivetrain components.

Simply looking at the photos, it's clear the fire started from the back of the vehicle, which is where the engine is mounted. The E-Ray is expected to use the same 6.2-liter LT2 V8 as the 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray with an electric motor on the front axle to provide additional power and all-wheel-drive grip. If this was an issue related to the hybrid system, the fire would have likely started from the front and worked its way back. Any indication that the fire couldn't be put out because of the electric components would be pure conjecture at this point.

The E-Ray is still very much in the development phase, so we expect Chevy will iron out any fire risks well before the car reaches production. Chevy's spokesperson confirmed the vehicle, "is not representative of any vehicle a customer would ever be able to purchase. It is strictly a test mule."

As of now, there are no reported injuries from the event. The Corvette Hybrid is expected to arrive as a 2024 model year vehicle, meaning we likely won't see a reveal until next year at the earliest. After it introduces the first hybrid Corvette, Chevy will start working on an all-electric model that should arrive before the end of the decade.