800hp Corvette by Genovation headed to LA: Update
This all-electric 'vette claimed to be capable of 220mph
UPDATE - 26.11.2018
One of the more peculiar cars headed to this year's LA Auto Show has to be the Genovation GXE, the 800hp all-electric Corvette that was first announced eleven months ago. The fact that it's a silent 'vette sans V8 powerplant is one thing, but the car also claims to be a Guinness World Record holder for its high speed capabilities, too - and it's the sheer size of some of the numbers which ought to earn it some attention.
Genovation's comprehensively reengineered sports car is the first electric car to reach 190mph in the standing quarter mile and it's also the first road legal EV to reach 209mph. The company expects the model, which is now claimed to be capable of a 175-mile range (up from 130), to top out at 220mph, when there's room to do so. Moreover, following its showing in LA, 75 examples of the Genovation GXE will be offered for sale, with first deliveries scheduled for mid-2019. Each will cost $750,000...
ORIGINAL STORY - 03.01.2018
If there's one thing you would assume is guaranteed from any Corvette project, it's a V8 engine. For half a century the cars have used eight-cylinder motors, and they have always been a key part of the Corvette's appeal.
Not so if you're American company Genovation, which has produced a Corvette-based sports car that runs purely on electricity. Imagine what Tesla did with the Lotus Elise, only bigger, and even faster.
Genovation claims its car produces 800hp and 700lb ft, with a top speed in excess of 220mph. All well and good, you might be thinking, because anybody can say anything on the Internet now without much apparent need to prove it. Fortunately, the Genovation website features plenty of videos of its bonkers EV, including it hitting 190mph in the standing mile. Does a good burnout, too...
There's even a video explaining the manual gearbox; yes, apparently this can be driven "just like the V8", if you wish. A dual-clutch auto will be available too.
So what's the catch? Well besides the missing soundtrack, the Genovation GXE has a relatively limited range of just 130 miles - blamed on a small quantity of batteries. Add into that a purchase price of $750,000 for one of the 75 cars and it's clear that the Genovation won't be the people's performance car for the EV age. There will probably be a moan about the interior plastics as well.
But what it does demonstrate is potential and initiative. The car has been shown in its previous generation form at Pebble Beach, and the website talks of non-toxic batteries, carpet from plastic bottles and seats that can use soy-based foam. It's very far from your traditional Corvette, put it that way, and perhaps just as appealing because of it. Motor Trend believes that the production version of the GXE will be shown at CES in Las Vegas this month, so we'll hope to bring you more details as soon as possible.
[Sources: Motor Trend, Genovation]
As I see it:
1. There is little doubt that the future of personal transportation will involve some sort of electric / hybrid motive power, whether we like that or not...
2. ...therefore an electric powered sports car must be good news, no?
3. It looks like a Corvette, which is also a Good Thing.
4. It goes like the clappers.
5. It has (or can have) a manual 'box.
This makes it sound like I love it. But...
For all the above, there just seems to be something wrong with the idea of building a Corvette that's not a Corvette. I mean, it should sound like the apocalypse, spit flames and make the ground shake, shouldn't it?
My point is, how much of the oily (silicon lubricant-y?) bits are still Corvette? Surely if you have the nous to build this you can make it look, well, not like a Corvette: give it its own identity.
Come back with a bespoke design, ship one over and I'll try it out for a year for you
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