(Article written by Zachery Shahan and originally published on Gas2.)
Unfortunately, it’s not “almost here” in the way that we have any actual photos to share, but Genovation Cars tells us that it is almost done with the prototype of a high-performance, 100%-electric Corvette it is calling the Genovation Extreme Electric (GXE).
For the gearhead-gone-electrichead among you, I imagine you just drooled on your shirt. Keep the mouth shut until we have some actual pictures, eh?
The GXE prototype will reportedly be completed by the end of this month, then it will be tested for 3 weeks, then it will be taken to some raceways to strut its stuff.
If you thought “high-performance” and “Extreme Electric” were shameless attempts at hyperbole, maybe reconsider. The Genovation team aims to set lap records for a street-legal electric car — something not at all easy to do these days. In the fall, the team wants to set a record for highest top speed by a street-legal electric car. The current record, set last summer by a prototype electric car out of Finland, is 177 mph (285 km/h).
If the GXE survives all of that, it will be on display in Michigan in September at the Electric Vehicle Technology Expo (note that EV Obsession and CleanTechnica are media partners for that).
“The GXE is based on a 2006 Z06 Corvette,” Genovation notes. “The car will have a range of 150 miles during normal driving operation and will have a near 50/50 weight distribution while being optimized for a low center of gravity.”
“We are using state of the art inverters, batteries and electric motors that will produce in excess of 700-hp and 600 lb-ft of torque,” said Genovation CEO Andrew Saul. “We expect the car to achieve 0-60 mph in around three seconds and have a top speed of over 200 mph. And, most of the parts are designed and built in America.”
I certainly wouldn’t call this a “Tesla fighter,” and imagine it won’t really compete with any Tesla models on cost and the built-in tech package (if it ever gets to market), but it’ll be awesome to see another street-legal electric car out there with such a high level of performance. And I imagine it will excite many a Corvette fan.
