[VIDEO] In Depth Look at the 2024 Corvette E-Ray Featuring Mark Reuss, Tadge Juechter, and E-Ray Engineers

We’ve been going through the some of the videos now posted by the influencers who visited Detroit last week for an in-depth look at the new 2024 Corvette E-Ray. One of those in attendance is the guy behind the Pushing Pistons YouTube channel, and during his video he talks with GM President Mark Reuss, Corvette Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter, Lead Development Engineer Mike Kutcher, and Bill Wise, who is the chassis control engineer for the E-Ray.

Pushing Pistons does an intro and then brings in GM President Mark Reuss right away, which makes a lot of sense to us as Mark was the first at GM to say the E-Ray was coming. Now that it’s actually here, Mark is obviously very excited about it. Mark says the idea behind the E-Ray came about a few years ago as the C8 team was doing the architecture on the platform and considering the performance levels for each of the models. That includes the forethought of using the center tunnel for the battery packs and the eAWD packaging on the front axles. Mark says the E-Ray is exceptional for the C8 platform as its really about taking advantage of the combined 655-hp and putting that power to the ground.

Mark is also excited about the new graphics in the car including the Performance App that shows what’s really happening in the car. “It’s a very sophisticated car, and I think the colors that we’re offering on it are are very sophisticated as well, and I think people will be just amazed at how this car just takes it to a whole new level,” says Reuss.

Pushing Pistons brings in Mike Kutcher who was the Lead Vehicle Development engineer for the Corvette E-Ray. Mikes gives a technical overview of the car:

“So we have our very capable 6.2 liter V8 naturally aspirated engine coupled with our eight speed dual clutch transmission. So we take that magnificent Stingray power plant and we add to that the electrification piece so down the center tunnel of the vehicle. We have our battery pack and that provides the power to the front Drive Unit. Up front, this adds a 160 horsepower and 125 foot-pounds of torque to the capable engine of 495 horsepower 470 foot-pounds of torque for a total system power of 655 horsepower.”

“What really makes this car exciting is when you get into the vehicle, the electrification adds that performance and the feeling of instant torque. So we’ve spent a lot of time in the propulsion integration space when you tip into that accelerator pedal, you can see it perch and and you can really feel it pull immediately, and that’s how we achieve the performance numbers of a 2.5 seconds 0 to 60 time and a quarter mile time of 10.5 seconds, and exceptional passing speeds too when you’re trying to do a passing maneuver on a highway and you just tip in, you just get around the car right in front of you instantly.”

Mike explains the Corvette E-Ray has its own specialized suspension with Magnetic Ride Control standard, and that will be called the FE5. (FE1-FE4 is on the Stingray, and the Z06 uses FE6 and FE7). We also learn there are “three new cooling loops” in the front of the car. The battery pack uses liquid-cooled cells to keep temps down which is one of the loops, and then a power electronics loop that keeps the various electronics cooled, and finally, the third loop is for the front drive unit itself. While Mike doesn’t take us there, we believe these cooling loops utilize that vertically mounted radiator cooler that we’ve seen on the front driver-side corners of the car.

We also learn that there are actually two separate modes of electric-powered driving on the E-Ray. The first being Stealth Mode which you can drive for three to four miles of range as speeds of up to 45 mph for the LT2 V8 kicks in. Chevy calls that the Flying Start. But the other mode is called Shuttle Mode and its generally for relocating the car without having to turn on the engine. You would use Shuttle Mode If you were to move it from one side of the garage to the other side or drive it in the race paddock and don’t want the engine to turn on. In Shuttle Mode, the LT2 will never do a Flying Start, and your maximum speed is only 15 mph.

At this point, Tadge jumps into the conversation to talk about the battery. He says the battery that the E-Ray uses is a completely different type of EV battery as its power focused and not energy focused:

“We brought the idea of electrifying a Corvette to our battery folks. They were so excited because we were asking to take all the battery chemical processes and use them in a completely different way. Typically, you’re thinking about how can I cram as much energy into a battery pack because everybody’s worried about range. For us, it’s how fast can you get energy in and how fast can you get energy out.”

Following the technical discussion, it was time to get a ride in the car with Bill Wise who is the E-Ray’s chassis control engineer. The car is off, and we see Bill activate Stealth Mode by pressing on the brake pedal and then turning the Drive Mode selector to choose Stealth Mode from the menu. This turns the car on, but only in the electric-only drive mode. Switching from electric-only driving to the LT2 is seamless and we see how it’s displayed on the screen when the Flying Start is accomplished. A couple of launch controlled launches are done and we can see Pushing Pistons is having all kinds of fun being the passenger. The whirling sound from the front electrical drive motor is very prevalent, and to us it adds to the launch control experience.

Hats off to Pushing Pistons for a great technical review of the new 2024 Corvette E-Ray:

Source:
Pushing Pistons / YouTube

Related:
[VIDEO] Chevy MyWay Presents the 2024 Corvette E-Ray with Chief Engineer Josh Holder
[VIDEO] Car and Driver Rides in the 2024 Corvette E-Ray
Chevrolet Officially Reveals the Electrifying New 2024 Corvette E-Ray