The recently unveiled 2024 C8 Corvette E-Ray marks a change in the trajectory of everything a Corvette has traditionally been, thanks to the introduction of an all-new hybrid powertrain. Unfortunately, it’s the same hybrid drivetrain that drove the National Council of Corvette Clubs (NCCC) to ban the C8 E-Ray, along with other hybrids and EVs, from participating at track days.
According to a report from Corvette Forum, the reasoning behind this ban may not be what you originally thought. The NCCC isn’t acting on implicit bias towards the electrified Vette, but rather towards concerns of the inability of emergency officials to handle electric fires in the event of an accident. Damaged battery cells can experience what’s called thermal runaway, where the internal temperature of the battery rises out of control. In fact, the NCCC has gone so far as to ban EVs and hybrids, including the Corvette E-Ray, from being within 30 feet of any structures or other vehicles at events.
Forward-thinking readers may be wondering if this ban would affect the upcoming C8 Corvette Zora. Well, dear reader, you would be correct, as the hybrid drivetrain in the C8 Zora would render it ineligible to participate as per the NCCC’s current rulebook. This also means that any future electrified Vette – fully electric or otherwise – is effectually pre-banned from competition.
However, the forthcoming C8 Corvette ZR1 would be good to go, as it will feature an ICE-only powertrain.
As a reminder, the 2024 Corvette E-Ray combines the naturally aspirated 6.2L V8 LT2 gasoline engine, rated at 495 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque, while an electric motor, rated at 160 horsepower and 125 pound-feet, on the front axle, bringing total output up to 655 horsepower.
A new variant of the C8’s dual-clutch, eight speed automatic transmission (RPO code MLH) is exclusively offered with the E-Ray.
Under the color-matched body panels, the C8 E-Ray rides on the GM Y2 platform, which it shares with all C8 variants. The hybrid Vette will go on sale in late 2023, and will be built alongside the C8 Stingray and C8 Z06 models at the GM Bowling Green plant in Kentucky.
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Comments
Yep. Some places have bought dumpsters to fill with water to put burning EVs for days until the fire stops.
EVs are LITERALLY dumpster fires.
Water is of no use to quell the fire of Lithium burning.
One has to cut the oxygene supply for the fire.
That’s what water does.
This ruling was done in 2022 before anything was known about the car.
The greatest issue is mostly accidents. When removing a driver from a crash most track crews are not trained in what can shock you and what will not. The fires are just the sky is falling deal.
Race cars burn no matter what runs them. I have half a Jaguar Trans Am T1 hood in my wall. It was all that was left of Greg Picketts gas powered car after it lost an oil belt at Mid Ohio.
It went up like the 4th of July and Greg was lucky to get out.
The NHRA has a deal where if a metal body is charged a light on the body goes off so crews will know the conditions. I see many racing groups moving to figure this out over time.
There is just so much to learn yet.
You can put out a gas fire in seconds. EV fires take days to put out.
In the long run, this ban would not negatively affect the upcoming C8 Corvette Zora, but this association,
Unless it too incorporates AWD like this car.m
@C8.R: which is much easier to realize with electric motors than with a single ICE engine. My perfect EV hat one motor per wheel… controlled by software which can allocate torque where torque is needed an in the amount needed by this wheel.
Good call. EV fires are no joke and incinerate anything near them due to temps reaching 5000 degrees. It will be interesting when one of these EVs catch fire on a bridge and melt their way right through the structure.
One has to assess here that this only serves to ensure the safety of the ICE Corvettes at these events.
Here, GM in particular is required to integrate the batteries safely into the vehicles and to improve fire protection in such a way that battery fires are not possible at all.
The extinguishing of battery fires must also become more ecological and drilling into the batteries with the insertion of an extinguishing lance must be standardized! The safety data sheets must always be visible in the vehicles so that the firefighters can extinguish them immediately. An on-board extinguishing system should also be installed on expensive vehicles in series from the OEM! What use is a BEV if the fire damages the environment more than 1,000,000 ICE cars!
Thank you if all this should work then please also EV cars at the events with ICE Oldies!!!
“Here, GM in particular is required to integrate the fuel storage and delivery systems, and combustion engine safely into the vehicles and to improve fire protection in such a way that fires are not possible at all.”
If truly worried about fires, eliminate the gas engine all together and go all EV, way safer.
Nice way to spin the facts into lies. There are way more EV fires than gas fires. EVs are unproven technology, gas is already proven.
This is more a case of fear of the unknown.
BEV models in racing are a big unknown. Many do not know what is different or how to deal with it.
It is not like race cars or mid engine never catch fire. But they understand them.
I wish I had a dollar for every Ferrari burning on you tube.
Most of these events have volunteered safety people and most are not trained in the new tech yet.
I would wager this and the reluctance of insurance due to this May play a role.
In time they will know what to do and deal with it.
Also these cars will hold an advantage on track events. They will need a class all their own.
Then train people and develop solutions. Don’t just knee-jerk a reaction.
F1 has been having hybrids for awhile.
Then there is formula-e and the extreme-e and the new rally electric car races.
I haven’t heard of any major fires or incidents in those all-electric events and I’ve seen some major wrecks in formula-e and extreme-e.
You’re just trolling. Leave this conversation to the grownups.
Ok, anybody against EV mandates is a troll. Got it.
There is no federal mandate for EV purchases. The only federal mandate to date is all federal gov vehicles purchased after 2035 must be a zero emission vehicle. AS for the Tax credits, why are republicans so upset about tax breaks? That is literally one of their main taking points, High taxes! So maybe someone gets a tax break for buying an ev or solar panels(USA made), it’s a good thing in so many more ways than not. Just to be clear, not everyone that buy’s an ev buys because of the tax break(we didn’t), Many buy because the high quality drivetrain. For many years manufacturers have focused really hard on making drivetrains smooth, quiet, powerful and efficient. We have had many vehicles over our 45 years of driving and buying new cars, and our new ev (GV60) is the smoothest,, quietest, most powerful and efficient vehicle for us to date. So for corvette fans to close out the next evolution of performance is just stubborn short sightedness in the name of some silly political spite bs.
Reportedly, this group had an event have to be cancelled because an EV fire couldn’t be dealt with timely…if that’s true, it’s not a knee-jerk reaction.
Luddites…. Margret Mead had a great quote on change…. One funeral at a time…. This too shall pass.
Luddites? you’re talking about the people who refuse to accept that people want gas cars, right?
A bold move by the NCCC but necessary in my opinion. All vehicless reguardless of the type of propultion fuel, come with their own set of safety issues that need to addressed. The speed that EVs are being developed for the market has left some of the safety issues unaddressed. But not just safety issues: Where will the battery materal come from and who will make the batteries? Battery disposal? Highway fuel tax accessment? and other issues. I don’t want a high dollar EV sitting in my garage waiting on a part that’s only made in China. I won’t be ready for an EV until all these questions are answered and all the parts can be made in the US.
Because all parts of your gas car are made in the US?
There are massive investments in US and North America battery factories today, and more being built thanks to the jobs and infrastructure bills passed by the current administration.
As this article is about a GM product, GM is building 3 massive US battery factories and a planned fourth one. They have announced various material sourcing from North America and other friendly countries.
Battery disposal won’t be an issue. They contain highly valued already refined materials that are basically better and cheaper to recover than fresh mining for the materials, and once there is enough supply due to older electric vehicles reaching end of life, those batteries will be recycled back into the mfg stream.
There are already many companies working to scale up recycling technology and infrastructure for these batteries.
As for highway infrastructure funding, some states have placed annual EV only fees to recoup lost gas tax revenues, and some are looking to transition to per mile fees for all vehicles, as even as gas cars get more efficient, they lose out on gas tax revenue. Or as gas gets more expensive, people drive less or buy more efficient vehicles. Add to that, gas taxes only make up about 50% of the revenue needed in some states for road maintenance and the rest comes from their general funds.
I think that’s all your questions answered.
Welcome to the rEVolution. If you haven’t go test drive a few different EVs.
EV battery recycling has always been a scam. They just end up in Chinese fire pits. So do dead solar panels and wind generators.
Here in the US we have the raw materials and capability to make and operate fossil fuel vehicles even if some of the parts are currently made in Mexico or Canada. EVs require raw battery material that is not available in the US, that makes EVs totaly dependant on some foreign country, I’m not ok with that.
What you are saying is that plans are being make to create infastructure to support EVs but the facts are that sufficent infastructure is not in place yet, I’ll wait. Admit it or not, today anyway, almost all EVs are indirectly dependant on fossil fuel to operate, we have lots of fossil fuel, we have no raw material to produce batteries for EVs. Bottom line: EVs may be the wave of future transportation, but not today.
Well it’s good to see that someone know where to draw the line regarding electric vehicles.
EVs also cause issues for firefighters out on the road. A normal ICE vehicle fire can be handled in 1/2 hour or so with 500 or less gallons of water. EVs can take hours and 10,000 gallons of water, among other dangers. Traffic nightmares as well.
Good thing EV fires are incredibly rare compared to gas car fires. Literally 100’s of gas car catch fire every day in the US.
This just seems like fear mongering by people scared of change and not willing to adapt or learn.
That’s totally not true. There are way more EV fires than gas fires.
Make me want to park it in the garage and worry about burning down everything else I have worked for!
😂 cancel culture because they don’t want to lose to EVs?
you’re the ones who cancelled any disagreement with the jab madates and covid hoax, biden’s supposed “election” and the climate & EV hoax.
Didn’t you get the news? Fox admitted they lied about the election and knew it, they were just drumming up viewership peddling misinformation to the gullible. Wonder what else they’re lying about? Maybe like EV fires, and climate change?
Just another reason to stick to the ICE Stingray, Z06, or ZR1.
Great move to preserve traditions. Thank you! EV’s and hybrids can start their own events.
Another person afraid to lose to superior technology.
A “superior technology” that is so superior that it has to be subsidized by the government and tax payers.
Gasoline is also subsidized by the government and taxpayers.
Common sense would tell you if EVs were “superior technology” they wouldn’t need subsidies and nobody would have to be forced to drive it.
Gasoline and oil gets massive subsidies and have for decades. Then add the bailouts in 2008ish.
registration fees (track rental, emergency services and insurance) for such events would deter EV owners from showing up for these event. So good luck with that.
To be safe and fair, they should also be sure to also prohibit the ICE Vette’s that have light weight Li-Ion 12V batteries as well. That is expected to include the ZR1 and Zora.
That’s different. EVs are dangerous and unfair competition like a trans male athlete on the womens team, they have more torque than gas.
My neighbor parks his Tesla in a separate, isolated garage. He loves his Tesla but is cautious.
A lot of underground parking at condos and apartments are banning ev’s.
Because of misinformation and fear mongering. A gas car is much more likely to catch fire, statistically.
No, because there are way more EV fires than gas fires. 180,000 bolt batteries is just the tip of the iceberg.
Just so wrong no matter how many times you claim it.
There were only about 16 Bolt EV fires out the 140,000 that had been built and delivered to that point. That’s an about a 0.009% chance. And
There are about 174,000 gas car fires per year, out of a U.S. fleet of around 282 million. Or 0.06%.
Studies posted on Hagerty and KBB refer to statistics compiled by insurance that for every 100,000 EV sales there are about 25 fires compared to about 1,530 fires for gasoline powered cars.
I’m moving into a newly built apartment next month and two of its selling points are having underground parking and EV charging.
Having a higher likelihood of your entire apartment building catch fire is a selling point? Is the smoke “environmentally friendly” when it comes from a “zero emission” EV on fire?
I park my ev in my garage without worry.
Your insurance company should cancel your policy.
Hello the issue is lithium batteries and not hybrid vehicles. All hybrids do not have to use lithium batteries.
Lithium does not play well with both heat and water, so if you have safety systems to keep the battery within the safe operating temperature and prevent water from contact then it is safe.
Lithium has been used in satellites for 40+ years.
My buddy is a fireman, and at this point his fire dpet. has been told to stand down and do nothing but moniter any EV fires. They have no means to fight the fire and while the Fed is ramming these down the publics throat, are providing no Fed $$$ to get the proper equipemtn to fight a lithium fire. These fires have to be battled much like magnesium fires which require sepecial means to contain. Throwing water on these type of fire amplifies it. In AZ we had one a couple months back where a Tesla fire took hours to contain. Once they put it on the flatbed, it reignited and it took some time to again contain it.
And EVs catch fire way more than gas cars even though there are less of them.
Why don’t you go ahead and enlighten us with the source on that claim.
There were only about 16 Bolt EV fires out the 140,000 that had been built and delivered to that point. That’s an about a 0.009% chance. And
There are about 174,000 gas car fires per year, out of a U.S. fleet of around 282 million. Or 0.06%.
Studies posted on Hagerty and KBB refer to statistics compiled by insurance that for every 100,000 EV sales there are about 25 fires compared to about 1,530 fires for gasoline powered cars per 100,000.
Both gas and EVs have safety issues and statics don’t matter when you are the static.
In time with solution type knowledge, this issue will be resolved to be equivalent to gas vehicles.
EVs are not going away so inner/ outer of the box ideas will eventually lower the risk to acceptable levels.
I do believe you have to be more diligent of temperature and reactive liquids when you operate or store your EV. I am planning to purchase an Ev but I will not give up my gas automobile.
An EV fire could shutdown the track for the rest of the weekend and probably for a few weeks until the track could be repaired. A revenue loss for the track. Apart from fires, most EV’s are considerably heavier than an equal sized vehicle. The weight plus the fantastic torque they possess can cause damage to the track surface.
My guess is this is an insurance/ legal based decision. Too many unknowns to justify the risk to the tracks.
Again, there are several race series for EVs, and no fires due to crashes that I am aware of or seen in the news. And you know it would make the news.
One could argue F1 is a hybrid vehicle, and they do catch fire on severe crashes. But that because of the highly flammable fuel they use.
As a retired LEO for over 25 yrs. I have seen few ICE vehicle fires and those were due to some sort of accident. I have never seen one spontaneous combust, but EV are prone to this. Also most ICE vehicles that catch fire usually only requires approximately 500 gals. of water to extinguish, whereas EV’s requires approximately 10,000 gals. of water and can still reignite. I’ve been seeing where fire departments aren’t even trying to put out the fire if there is no danger to people or property. They just let it burn itself out.
If your EV catches fire in your garage, your fire department is not going to be able to extinguish it in time to save your garage or house. These fires burn extremely hot and long. We do park our Tesla in our garage knowing that even the sprinkler system would be useless if it catches fire.
Maybe the Corvette snobs should be more careful where they park, sinkholes have destroyed more corvettes than burning ev’s ever will.