Genovation’s All-Electric Corvette With a Manual Gearbox Is Debuting at CES 2018
Only in the good ol’ USA could such a mixture of freedom and innovation take place.
Many people who buy a Corvette aren't just New Balance-wearing dads who are having their midlife-crisis. They're also people who enjoy the sound of a General Motors LS-based V8 engine and doing big smokey burnouts at the expense of their gasoline-powered freedom machine. A Maryland-based startup, Genovation, is looking to take all the noise out of the Corvette and just leave some pure electric fun in its place.
The Genovation Extreme Electric (just call it the GXE for short) isn't a brand new concept. In fact, we first reported on it in 2016, but it hadn't peaked in popularity or debuted itself in any official capacity. Instead, Genovation decided to expand on its C6-generation prototype and build an electrified C7 that Motor Authority reports will debut at CES 2018.
When buying an electric powerhouse like the Tesla Model S P100D, you get a car with a single gear ratio. That's why, although it's king of the quarter mile, the Teslas fall short of setting any speed records. Genovation looks to change that by pumping the power through a—wait for it—seven-speed manual gearbox. That's right, the GXE will be able to slay the road in multiple gears to make use of all 800-horsepower and 700 pound-feet of instantaneous torque. This allowed the electrified Corvette to set a speed record of 209 miles per hour, which is somewhere between Porsche 959 and Ruf CTR territory.
The first generation GXE could travel around 130 miles on a 44 kilowatt-hour battery making slightly less power. The boutique automaker stuffed a new 60 kWh battery pack in the unit, put more power down, and somehow still maintained a 50/50 weight distribution for the car. An impressive feat to say the least. Sprinting from zero to 60 mph takes less than three seconds, which is quicker than 3.5 seconds it takes the C7 Corvette Grand Sport.
Here comes the part which will make many people hug their wallets: the price. For $750,000, less a $250,000 initial deposit, one of the 75 Genovation GXEs could be on its way to your home in 2019. Despite being able to buy a whole fleet of C7 Corvettes, you'll feel a bit of satisfaction knowing that you have one of the few electric cars with a manual transmission (assuming it will hold up to the torque), and one that few people would suspect. It's not quite as pricey as a Rimac, but it's also not on the cheap end of things.
