Corvette C9 Prototype Hints At Electric Future

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Last Updated on: 8th April 2025, 11:14 am

Corvette. It’s a word that carries special significance for Chevrolet. First introduced as a two-seat sports car in 1953 (with the mighty Chevrolet Blue Flame 6 under the hood!), it has always been a halo car for the brand. Those cars are designed to create excitement — something for customers to drool over in the showroom as they shop for a new Silverado or Blazer. Over the years, Corvette has been the standard bearer for GM’s motorsports division, led originally by legendary engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov, who is often thought of as the father of the Corvette. The importance of the brand is so strong that is has its own museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, not far from the factory where Corvettes are manufactured.

Corvette and Harley Davidson are two iconic brands that represent America’s love affair with the internal combustion engine. The reverence for everything Corvette is so strong, I once saw a C4 ZR-1 version of the car — known as the King Of The Hill for its ability to kick every other car in its class to the curb — with this license plate — 4MR401K — indicating the owner was willing to part with his life’s savings to own one. That was probably meant as hyperbole but you get the point. Those cars were rare and highly desirable. The ZR-1 had an aluminum engine designed by Lotus Group that was rated at 405 hp and 385 ft-lb of torque, an extraordinary achievement in the late 80s.

The Latest Corvette Design Concept

But wait! What if the Corvette didn’t have a big honking V8 under the hood? That would be like Harley Davidson deciding to replace its iconic V Twin with a rotary engine. I know, ridiculous, right? Maybe not. GM has a number of design studios, the newest of which is located in Leamington near Birmingham in the UK. There’s another in LA and the original in Detroit. All three have been tasked with designing the replacement to the current car known as the C8, as it is the eighth version of the Corvette to enter production since 1953. The C9 is scheduled to appear in 2029, but that means the time to design it is now.

“As part of the Corvette creative study, we asked multiple studios to develop hypercar concepts,” Michael Simcoe, senior VP of global design, said in a press release. “It was important that they all pay homage to Corvette’s historic DNA, but each studio brought their own unique creative interpretation to the project. Which is exactly what our advanced design studio network is intended to do – push the envelope, challenge convention and imagine what could be.”

The designs from all three studios will be on public display this year. Then they will be evaluated, tested, and examined by senior corporate executives until a final design is approved. But the concept from the Leamington is a stunner. It looks more like a Le Mans prototype than a production car. In fact, it has doors hinged in the center of the roof — a design common in the world of auto racing. There is no traditional A pillar in this design. Instead, a structural element runs from the front of the car up the middle of the windshield, along the center of the roof, then down the rear window to the back of the car. The effect is strongly reminiscent of the iconic split window C3 Corvette that is highly prized by Corvette aficionados.

No A pillar means drivers will have an unobstructed view to the side when taking tight turns on the race track like Oak Tree at Virginia International Raceway. How much that will improve the daily driving experience is a matter of conjecture,

You can be forgiven if you are wondering how ordinary people — those who can afford such trinkets tend to be older and not as spry as they once were — will fit in this car if it does become the Corvette of the future. The concept is one inch lower than the current car, which is already a challenge for those who are not Olympic gymnasts, but its appearance is not the most striking feature of the concept car.

According to Top Gear, the concept from the Leamington studio is clearly intended to be battery-electric. “What we’ve done here doesn’t promise it [pure EV] in the next generation or anything close to that. It’s a concept but giving it an EV propulsion system means you can do more with the aero — a more efficient underbody and flow air through the body,” Simcoe added. One interesting feature of the Leamington design is the use of a large sucker fan at the rear of the car to add downforce, an idea pioneered by Jim Hall, the founder of Chaparral Racing, in 1962.

Corvette C9 With “EV Battery Technology”

Officially, the GM press release said only,”EV battery technology is embedded into the structure.” Does that mean there is the possibility of a plug-in hybrid or a regular hybrid version? No one knows, but bear in mind that GM is about to enter the rarefied world of Formula One racing next season with a team headed by Michael Andretti. Officially, the title sponsor will be Cadillac, but the powertrain will have absolutely nothing to do with any Cadillac powertrain found in a production car.

Formula One is heavy into hybrid technology and harvesting energy to put back into the battery on deceleration. Beginning in 2026, the electric motor will be nearly as powerful as the internal combustion engine — 350 kW vs 400 kW. Is that part of GM’s thinking for the next generation Corvette? It’s hard to believe it wouldn’t be. GM isn’t jumping into the Formula One snake pit just to win races. It’s all about marketing, which is why Audi will also join the fun in F1 next year as well.

The next Corvette will not be fully electric, but the fact that GM is even exploring what an electric Corvette might look like gives the lie to those EV haters who think the internal combustion engine will live forever. It won’t. In fact, its days as the primary power source for personal transportation are numbered, whether people want to admit that or not.