{"id":25825,"date":"2020-08-08T18:28:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-08T22:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=25825"},"modified":"2020-08-08T18:28:59","modified_gmt":"2020-08-08T22:28:59","slug":"electric-corvette-rumors-speed-ahead-with-biden-campaign-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2020\/08\/electric-corvette-rumors-speed-ahead-with-biden-campaign-video","title":{"rendered":"Electric Corvette rumors speed ahead with Biden campaign video"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"speakable-p-1 p-text\">Presidential candidate Joe Biden appeared to spill the beans on a long-rumored, all-electric Chevy Corvette this week.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/opinion\/columnists\/henry-payne\/2020\/04\/24\/corvette-c-8-getting-three-high-performance-trims-but-expect-delays\/2998173001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">As The Detroit News first reported last April<\/a>, the mid-engine Corvette C8 was designed to include battery-power, and will feature the\u00a0first-ever electrified model capable of 1,000-horsepower.<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable-p-2 p-text\">Expected to be called the Zora, the hybrid \u2018Vette should debut in 2025. Given General Motors Co.&#8217;s commitment to a zero-emissions future, an all-electric Corvette after Zora has been expected, too \u2014 though without a definitive model year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">In a campaign video on Twitter touting his love for driving, Biden \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2020\/03\/04\/presidential-candidates-car-choices-make-statement\/4863616002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">the owner of a classic, 1967 Corvette convertible himself<\/a>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0added fuel to\u00a0the rumor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">&#8220;They tell me \u2014\u00a0and I\u2019m looking forward to this if it\u2019s true, to driving one \u2014\u00a0that they\u2019re making an electric Corvette that can go 200 mph,&#8221; said the Democratic candidate for president.\u00a0&#8220;You think I\u2019m kidding \u2014\u00a0I\u2019m not kidding. So I\u2019m excited about it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Who &#8220;they&#8221; is is not clear, though top politicians like Biden often have access to auto executives given Washington&#8217;s regulation of the industry as well as its importance in political swing states like Michigan. Government regulation\u00a0is a key reason GM\u00a0and other automakers are investing billions in electrification.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-S69THUdExq0\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\"><div align=\"left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/08\/06\/PDTN\/d1abdd07-5317-44b0-9884-6e94f62eab22-AP20218561962142.jpg?width=540&amp;height=&amp;fit=bounds&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden\" width=\"540\" data-mycapture-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/08\/06\/PDTN\/d1abdd07-5317-44b0-9884-6e94f62eab22-AP20218561962142.jpg\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2020\/08\/06\/PDTN\/d1abdd07-5317-44b0-9884-6e94f62eab22-AP20218561962142.jpg\" \/>Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden\u00a0<span class=\"credit\">(Photo: Andrew Harnik, AP)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p-text\">GM as a rule does not talk on the record about future product. When asked about an all-electric Corvette, a GM spokesperson would not\u00a0comment on product speculation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Since The\u00a0News\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/business\/autos\/general-motors\/2016\/08\/04\/sources-mid-engine-corvette-due\/88054852\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">broke news of a mid-engine Corvette in 2016<\/a>, however, sources have told The News that a key reason for putting the engine behind the driver was to open up possibilities for electrification.\u00a0Chevrolet even went\u00a0so far as to trademark\u00a0the name\u00a0Corvette E-Ray \u2014\u00a0an\u00a0indication\u00a0of the model&#8217;s electric ambitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Bob Lutz, GM\u2019s former chief of product development who was involved with early development of the mid-engine &#8216;Vette, speculated\u00a0that the program\u2019s long lead time foreshadowed an electric version with &#8220;electric motors at the front (that) would enable limited AWD capability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Sure enough,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/opinion\/columnists\/henry-payne\/2020\/04\/24\/corvette-c-8-getting-three-high-performance-trims-but-expect-delays\/2998173001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">The News confirmed this year the Zora hypercar<\/a>\u00a0(named after the engineer who advocated a mid-engine &#8216;Vette 50 years ago) scheduled for 2025 (before delays expected by the cornonavirus disruption).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Like European hypercars that use all-wheel-drive, hybrid-electric propulsion to achieve preposterous performance numbers, the\u00a0Zora is expected to generate about\u00a01,000 horsepower. Power comes from a front electric motor mounted to an all-new twin-turbo LT7 engine. The LT7 will also be found \u2014\u00a0sans\u00a0electric motor \u2014\u00a0in the Corvette ZR1 performance model.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">As a Corvette fan, Biden might also have gotten his information from rampant speculation in online Corvette forums and enthusiast magazines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">When asked by the British auto publication,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.autocar.co.uk\/car-news\/new-cars\/new-chevrolet-corvette-could-get-hybrid-or-electric-versions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-track-label=\"inline|intext|n\/a\">Autocar, about an electric Corvette\u00a0<\/a>at the C8&#8217;s unveiling in Los Angeles last year,\u00a0GM President\u00a0Mark Reuss fueled\u00a0rumors: \u201cThe company is committed to a strategy of 0-0-0:\u00a0zero emissions, zero crashes and zero congestion. All of the technology rolling into this vehicle is meant to support that. This platform can carry a lot of different things into the future for General Motors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Pressed further, Reuss responded: \u201cWe\u2019ll see. Stay tuned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Intriguingly, an aftermarket company name Genovation has made headlines by converting an old, front-engine\u00a0C7 Corvette to electric power\u00a0making 800 ponies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">The Corvette wouldn&#8217;t be the first GM electric car that Biden has taken an interest in.\u00a0Chevy\u2019s first battery-powered car, the Chevy Volt, played a key role\u00a0in the Obama-Biden administration&#8217;s rescue of Detroit automakers in 2009.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">Biden was a strong advocate for the $54 billion in green energy initiatives that were a part of the $787 billion stimulus bill, and visited a Midland plant in 2010 touting battery production for electrified vehicles. In his 2011 State of the Union speech, President Obama promised to have one\u00a0million battery-powered vehicles on the road by 2015.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">That number never materialized as gas prices moderated and consumers gobbled up SUVS. Indeed, Volt production ended in 2019 for lack of demand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">But Biden says he will redouble efforts to move the US to fully electric cars if he is elected president. As part of his $2 trillion climate initiative announced this summer, he would build 500,000 charging stations across the country to help the auto industry go fully electric.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p-text\">\u201cThis is an iconic industry. How can American-made vehicles no longer be out there?\u201d he said in the campaign ad touting an all-electric Corvette. \u201cI believe we can own the 21st century market again by moving to electric vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Presidential candidate Joe Biden appeared to spill the beans on a long-rumored, all-electric Chevy Corvette this week.\u00a0As The Detroit News first reported last April, the mid-engine Corvette C8 was designed to include battery-power, and will feature the\u00a0first-ever electrified model capable of 1,000-horsepower. Expected to be called the Zora, the hybrid \u2018Vette should debut in 2025. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25826,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25825\/revisions\/25826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}