2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray Burns During Testing [UPDATED]

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey


A prototype electrified Chevrolet Corvette has burned during testing.

And by "burned", I mean melted beyond recognition.

The testing was taking place in Southern Europe. Apparently, the car was one of two prototypes in the hands of supplier Bosch, and the fire occurred after it was spotted leaking oil.

As a reminder, the E-Ray isn't a full EV, but rather a hybrid setup that will use one or two electric motors to provide all-wheel drive.

No injuries were reported, and Chevrolet told Motor1 in a statement: "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."

In the grand scheme of things, this amounts to a mildly interesting story but it doesn't mean the electrified 'Vette will be plagued by fire problems. Prototypes break all the time during testing -- it's sort of part of the process -- and one test vehicle burning does not a quality crisis make.

Still, the photos are a sight to behold. Surf over to Motor1 to see them.

UPDATE: Chevrolet has reached out to us to clarify what type of propulsion system the test mule was using. The manufacturer was a big vague, as not to give away secrets, but it's implied the E-Ray powertrain wasn't in use here. Read it for yourself: "The way the Corvette development vehicle is described in the article is not quite accurate, specifically vehicle’s the propulsion system. The car was a testing mule with a setup that’s not indicative of what an actual customer would receive."

[Image: Chevrolet]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

Comments
Join the conversation
 7 comments
Next