[VIDEO] Watch the Full Corvette Team Presentation from the 2023 NCM Bash

The National Corvette Museum has now posted the full seminar from the Corvette Team at the 2023 NCM Bash. Presenting the info was Executive Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter, Vehicle Chief Engineer Josh Holder, and Corvette Product Marketing Manager Harlan Charles.

The Corvette Team’s presentation focuses on everything that has happened in the last year, the latest production information and statistics, and finally an in-depth look at What’s New for the 2024 Corvette.

Kicking off the presentation with Corvettes in the news, Tadge shows that J.D. Power ranked the Corvette most problem-free model in the 2022 Initial Quality Study. This isn’t just for sportscars, it’s for all vehicles and its one of the highest honors a manufacturer can receive. Another set of kudos comes from Consumer Reports in which the Corvette received 1st place at 94% when buyers were asked if they would buy it again. Once again, this was based on vehicles, not just sportscars.

Harlan Charles was up next and goes through the production numbers of the current 2023 Corvette model year. With over 40,000 vehicles produced or scheduled for production, Harlan says that 2023 is shaping up to be one of the highest years of production in Corvette’s 70-year history, so it will be interesting to see where we end up on September 1st. In addition to production stats, this graphic shows just how well the Corvette does against the competition with the car claiming 47.5% of market share in the Luxury Sport segment:

Josh enters the fray next and talks about the new Corvette Z06 GT3R customer racing program. While the Z06 is a racecar for the street, the Z06 GT3R is strictly meant for the track and will not be street legal. Josh says this new track weapon is “all business” and it illustrates once again the technology transfer from Track to Street, and Street to Track. Josh then moves into the 2023 Corvette Z06 information and confirms that the plant built 250 new Z06s in just one week.

Harlan comes back and talks about the 70th Anniversary models for the 2023 Corvette Stingray and Z06. The 70th Anniversary models are selling well and Harlan says they are on pace for more than 5,000 Anniversary models to be built this year.

Now that everything for 2023 has been discussed, the team moves on to the exciting introduction of the 2024 Corvette E-Ray. Showing that the concepts of the E-Ray have been around since Zora was the Chief Engineer, the team showed a photo of CERV-II which was a concept car that Zora built with both a mid-engine and all-wheel drive.

We took the technology in in batteries and motors and we tried to use them in a way that didn’t take anything away, only added to the Driving Experience. So more performance, more capability…the video shows off all-weather capability, but it also can be used in perfectly dry to help the vehicle Dynamics, and the thing is a rocket off the line so we think we’ve taken that technology and used in a way that will really appeal to Corvette customers.” – Tadge Juechter

Tadge also spoke to the usefulness of the E-Ray. Calling the Corvette Z06 a scalpel for the track, the Corvette E-Ray is the Swiss Army Knife, doing all things well. This next chart that Tadge shared shows the four different models of Corvettes and where they fit. The Stingray and the Stingray Z51 form the bottom and diverge with the Z51 being ready for the track while the base Stingray is more of a GT cruiser. With the Z06 now out and being the race car for the streets, that opened up the luxury GT space which the E-Ray fills perfectly.

If you are wondering who the Corvette E-Ray may be competing against in the hybrid performance segment, it’s the usual cast with McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche, Lexus and Acura all featuring a model that combines electrification with ICE motors, but as Harlan point out, the E-Ray is the only one in the segment to offer the V8 while all the others offer a 6-cylinder powerplant. You can also see that only the Lexus comes in less than the E-Ray’s starting MSRP and most are substantially more.

The team covers the E-Ray’s all-season Michelin tires and the available wheels for the car. Tadge shows off the badge for the E-Ray and says its unbelievable how much time they spent on the name. Harlan says that there is a creature that is an Electric Ray and it’s the name that stuck when it was first trademarked in 2015. Other details include the Charge+ button and on the console, and the team was proud to be able to keep the front trunk storage with the electric motor residing behind it. Tadge also goes through the dash gauges and cluster animations for the car which we shared last week.

That pretty much wraps up the E-Ray coverage, but the team was just getting started with other new items for the 2024 Corvette including the three new exterior colors and the Artemis leather interior color. The ZZ3 Convertible Engine Appearance Package was also shown and appeared to be well received by the audience. Tadge called it a “bolt-on” meaning that previous HTC customers can order it from Chevrolet accessories as well.

Other new items for 2024 include the new Stingray Split Spoke Wheels and a new Stingray Accessory Wheel. Also new for 2024 are additional standard safety features and the new Driver Mode Selector Animations that appear on the center screen when you make a Driver Mode change. Finally, the new racing stripes were introduced which are carbon flash with one of five different accent colors.

Following the presentation, the team opened up the floor to questions. Our claim to fame came early when someone asked if the E-Ray can crabwalk, and Harlan explained “that was Keith’s April Fool’s Joke” so mission accomplished with that!! Josh was asked about the safety of the E-Ray in light of the NCCC EV ban (and reversal), and he says it will not catch fire as they have done all kinds of testing and even damaging the battery to ensure there is no thermal runaway events. The E-Ray’s battery will be under warranty for eight years or 100,000 miles and they will build replacement batteries for another eight years. Our friend Corvette Ed asks about timing of the E-Ray and Harlan says it should be available will come at the same time as the Stingray and Z06.

All-in-all, this was a great presentation, and we hope you can take a few minutes to watch it below:

Source:
National Corvette Museum / YouTube

Related:
[PICS] The Corvette Vanity Plates of the 2023 Michelin NCM Bash
[VIDEO] Tadge Walks Us Through the 2024 Corvette E-Ray’s Gauges and Screen Displays
[PICS] The 26th Annual Michelin NCM Bash