We hope that the curse of the Chevy Bolt has not affected the upcoming hybrid Corvette E-Ray. These shots are of a massive fire that happened while undergoing testing in southern Europe. Bosch has been testing two E-Ray prototypes for Chevrolet, which this is, or was, one of. As you can see, the fire was so extensive and hot that the former Corvette is unrecognizable. 

How did the Corvette E-Ray burn up?

Smoke was seen coming from the engine compartment the previous day, according to Motor.es, which first reported the incident. Engineers for Bosch had to top off engine oil not once, but twice, during the day’s testing. 

They planned to investigate the source of the smoke, but it appears they were a bit delinquent in getting to it. So it may not have been from the hybrid system or battery. Instead, oil dripped onto the exhaust system. As this just happened it is too early to tell. 

“A Corvette development vehicle undergoing extreme testing by one of our suppliers this week had a thermal incident. All who were involved are safe as this is our top priority. We are investigating the situation with the supplier,” a Chevy spokesperson told CarBuzz.

How is the Corvette E-Ray different from a standard model?

The hybrid Corvette still uses the same 6.2-liter LT2 V8 engine as the current C8. Attached is an electric motor or motors to the front end. This essentially makes the E-Ray an all-wheel-drive Corvette. That is an all-wheel-drive Corvette with a tad over 600 hp. And fuel economy numbers should vastly improve from their current 16 mpg city and 24 mpg highway. 

The E-Ray will also feature the wide body of the Z06 Corvette, distinctly separating it from the standard Stingray and Z51 versions. 

Whether the fire is completely oil leak-related or was exacerbated by the hybrid battery and/or components, will be part of the investigation. With the battery located just ahead of the engine, and behind the seats, it wouldn’t take much for the flame to travel to that area. From there, it’s pretty much a five-alarm fire. 

When is the due date for the E-Ray?

Chevrolet is working toward having the E-Ray available in 2024, so it is still heavy into the development phase. Obviously, this is not an indication of troubles moving forward but comes with vehicles under development. If nothing else, it is good that this happened before its release rather than afterward.

Chevy has already confirmed that an all-electric Corvette is on the way as well. This will be all-wheel-drive as well, with close to 1,000 hp. Its expected release should happen in 2024.