Analog Devices provides battery control technology to GM and Rimac

GM alleges they can stack their batteries vertically and horizontally

This is a Rimac batter pack


This a Rimac battery pack with motors attached




This is the installed package




I allege that same design/architecture would fit the C8 chassis architecture; motors, batteries, new two speed trans for rear and rear trunk space.


Therefore a EV Corvette is very doable.

Is the current C8 chassis designed to accommodate the EV with minimal change?

I allege the current C8 chassis was designed to accommodate the hybrid C8 as a intermix item on the current production line. How far did the design team push the design of the C8 chassis toward an EV?

 

I predict this thread is going to be like all the other electric threads, where people who are uninformed derail the overall discussion with their misinformation and misunderstandings. They will compare 'electrification' to some other electronic nanny that they don't understand (blind spot monitors, etc) and say they're better off without it.

Electrification is the performance enhancement that can augment or replace the traditional drivetrain to increase performance where the combustion engine is not as capable. Think between 0-3000 rpm.

I think the transition to electric for the corvette will be like the transition to fuel injection. (TPI, individual cylinder, direct injection, etc). Batteries are expensive and the corvette won't go all electric this generation. Maybe in the C9. There are some clues we're the top model of the C8 will get electric FWD to go with the twin turbo RWD, just like a cheaper/technologically mature version of the Porsche 918, and LaFerrari.

Center tunnel used for batteries, frunk will have electric motor. RIMAC model above will probably be C9 or later, and a very common architecture for sports cars. JerryU has great research on this stuff.

If performance is involved (which it will be) I can't wait.

 

I had great hesitation over the same concerns you mentioned over the direction of the thread.

If that happens don't hesitate to lock.

 

They're well aware of where the market was heading and followed the example of competing sports car manufacturers (Porsche and Ferrari). GM has a whole set of Ultium motors they unveiled, I am sure the corvettes plans were planned along side.

 

Our C8 HTC will be our 14th or 15 Corvette. We have a hybrid electric BMW i8 Roadster in the garage along with our other toys. I can't wait to add in an all electric or a hybrid Corvette. The only thing I'll miss with an all electric is the sound, but I'm sure I'll get over that pretty fast!

 

You mean the same nonsense where some people think everyone wants to sit around at charging stations, or cancel plans to go to explore back roads in our country because the battery will go dead with no charging available?

We have too many people who are blinded by the term EV, and overlook all other shortcomings.

 

Well, Kodiack, that answers the question.... 5 posts... a new CF record!

 

An EV corvette would be completely bonkers. I think a lot of the objections will disappear when the numbers show up.

 

My OP was focused on the C8 chassis and the impact hybrid and full EV requirements may have had on the design

IMO, the C8 chassis is completely hybrid compatible and some of the criticisms of the chassis design are the result of the hybrid having to be built on the same production line with the CI only versions with minimal disruption and added costs.

This post carries that compatibility issue further. Mapping the GM battery and motor announcements and the Analog Devices eBBM which shares at least the technology with the Rimac design, it's easy to see how by eliminating the IC drive train completely, adding battery capacity and electric motors in that space, a bit more in the backbone, along with rear motors and a two speed trans and you've got a complete EV version, plug in style.(which can carry two golf bags) At a minimum, the current C8 chassis serves as the design basis for a EV chassis and in the C8 hybrid version provides field experience.

So, the C8 chassis is a compromise design to accommodate the hybrid model and at lease serve as the design basis of the plug in EV. Given those requirements a lot of the criticism is not valid as it is based on comparing the C8 chassis with what would be a completely IC chassis.

One last point, some have criticized the C8 for having an "old design IC engine" . Through bitter experience the auto industry learned not to introduce a completely new engine along with a completely new chassis/body architecture. It's asking for more trouble than you can handle.

 

CA will ban new sales of ICE vehicles by 2035. Entire countries have banned future ICE sales as well. Writing is on the wall: alternatives fuel/EVs are the future. After reading power figures for some of the new EV vehicles, I can’t wait for a hybrid/EV Corvette.

 

Me too!!

Imagine having the same insane acceleration of a tesla BUT ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD?????

SHEESH! Sign me up!

Can't wait for GM to get this ball rolling, that way the thought of a manual C8 will soon be a thing of the past!!

Can't wait!

 

I'm sorry, you don't know that.... nobody knows what is going to happen 6 months from now, let alone 15 years... stop it.

BTW in 1950, Bell Labs projected that by 1965, 50% of the women in US would have to be employed as telephone operators to handle the traffic growth...

 

I was speaking this weekend at a car show and hinted this was the real reason why the C8 was not offered in a manual trans. Chevy did not have the heart or courage to say there was no manual because the design architecture was to be able to accommodate a C8 EV!

They likely used the just 15% of recent Corvettes were “manuals” and also the “speed of DCT” shifts as “air cover” for the secretive actual EV reason...

Just an opinion.

 

I've said all along the Volt/ELR battery looks like it could be easily modified to fit the C8. Stick a single electric motor up front to drive the front wheels, and you'd have a great plug-in hybrid C8 that would be very attractive. GM has pretty much perfected this desgin on the Volt & ELR, and it works really well. My wife has had a first gen Volt and now the ELR, and she's loved both of them. I drove the ELR for about 6 months as a daily, and it's actually a lot of fun (only reason I didn't keep it was the seating position is a little weird for me, perfect for smaller drivers like my wife though). Last time the ELR was in for service, they gave her a brand new CT4 loaner, and she didn't really care for it because of the gas only engine and she admitted she's spoiled for electric/hybrid now. Once you get used to instant electric torque, it's hard to go back to gas only. But having both gives a lot more flexibility as you can just keep driving and fill up on gas instead of needing to wait to charge.

While I love the thought of a FPC NA Z06 with high red line, a plug-in hybrid convertible C8 would make a great daily driver. Ability to run electric only for 25-50 miles (would handle most peoples daily commute), but be able to run both together for max performance. Maybe I could convince my wife to give up her ELR for one and then get the Z06 for myself...

 

yes.

Folks say the Corvette is finally getting more high tech. DCT, dohc, no more leaf springs, lift system, DI, etc. That isn't really new high tech. The real new tech is in the electronics, and the control systems that enable things like active suspensions, engine (IC and EV) controls, dynamic stability control, and fast information transfer across multiple systems, with machine learning. And battery / ev technology. Of course I'm a little biased.

 

Well alrighty then!!

 

Personally, I'm ready for an EV or hybrid Corvette. I just hope the electric grid infrastructure will be ready.

 

Sorry to say, but our crazy Governor of Kali just issued an executive order to do just that. True a lot can happen between now and then, but I stand by my comment.

 

EVs are perfect for the 60% of people who think of cars as a means to get from point A to point B.
EVs are perfect for people who street race (0-60 or 5-60) and are already beating/trouncing high HP cars.
EVs are perfect for people who want to build lots of new nuclear power plants.

But I suspect we will have enough EVs to crash the power grid, before we start building the plants to recharge all these cars.

 

Wait! Didn't GM just tale a stake in Nikola! Obviously, they are very foresighted to allow Trevor Milton to show them the way to an electric future. Great decision by GM.