Corvettes for Sale: Secret Motorola Prototype Electric-Powered 1987 Corvette

You just thought the upcoming 2024 E-Ray is going to be the first electric Corvette ever made.

Actually, a team of Motorola “skunkworks” engineers in Northbrook, Illinois converted a red C4 into the first electric Corvette way back in the mid-1990s, and now this rolling piece of EV history is up for sale on eBay at the “Buy It Now” price of $100,000 – still a few thousand dollars less than the upcoming E-Ray.

The current owner says he’s talked to engineers on the Motorola team, and this one-of-a-kind Corvette shares similar architecture with the famous GM EV1. It was reportedly built by a few engineers with a $25,000 budget, and they managed to get 272 peak horsepower from the electric motor. They theorized, however, that the output could hit as much as 428 to 800 horsepower with better batteries and a switch to an AC synchronous motor setup.

Nowadays, according to the listing, this prototype electric Corvette remains in “wonderful” cosmetic condition, with the exception of some clearcoat fade on the hood.

Included with the sale will be 12 pounds of documents, build sheets, manuals, and schematics for the car, which has been in storage for almost 30 years.

The seller notes that the car does not currently run and drive, and the batteries will need to be replaced to get it back on the road.

Indeed, the Achilles heel of this groundbreaking electric Corvette was Motorola’s inability to come up with an efficient battery, with the lead-acid batteries of the day limiting range, suffering from long charge times, and adding 700 pounds to the weight of the vehicle. We’re not sure similar problems don’t still exist in today’s electric vehicles.

Source:
eBay Motors via TheDrive

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