Genovation All-Electric Corvette gets Carbon Fiber Wheels

After discussing how the all-electric Chevrolet Corvette Z06 named the Genovation GXE hit a whopping 209 miles per hour last week – making it the fastest road-going electric vehicle in the world – the company behind that record-setting EV announced that the run was made on carbon fiber wheels which will also be included on their production models.

There is no street-legal, production-based electric car in the world which is faster than the Genovation-built Chevrolet Corvette GXE, which set the record for EV top speed when it was the first to break the 200 mile per hour barrier last year. After setting the bar at 205.6 miles per hour in 2016, the Genovation team headed back to the track earlier this year and the result was another EV top speed record, with the electric Corvette Z06 reaching an incredible 209 miles per hour. Click here for a closer look at that record run.

Along with the unique electric drivetrain system which sends a whopping 700 horsepower and 650lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels via the buyer’s choice of an 8-speed automatic or a 7-speed manual transmission, Genovation has announced that the production version of their GXE Corvette will have similar carbon fiber wheels to the set used to reach that top speed with their black C6 test car.

Carbon Fiber Wheels
Ford Motor Company made big news when they announced that their Mustang Shelby GT350R would come with carbon fiber wheels from the Australian supplier Carbon Revolution, and it came as no big surprise when the automaker announced that their new Ford GT supercar would also feature these lightweight, high tech rollers.

Genovation has announced that Carbon Revolution will also be providing wheels for the production version of their new Corvette-based GXE when they begin delivering those cars in the next few years.

The advantage of these wheels is, of course, that they are significantly lighter than an aluminum alloy wheel with a similar design. In the case of the Ford Shelby GT350R Mustang, the carbon fiber wheels cut 15 pounds at each corner and we would imagine that the advantages will be similar for the Genovation electric Corvette.

While these wheels will help reduce the overall curb weight, improving the performance capabilities and the efficiency of the electric supercar, removing this weight from the wheels has an even bigger impact than removing 60lbs from the interior or from the body shell. Cutting that weight from the rear wheels effectively improves the wheel horsepower levels, since the lighter wheels require less power to spin, more of the available drivetrain power is converted into forward motion.

Of course, the key downside to the Genovation electric Corvette – maybe the only downside shy of the need to charge the battery – is the cost. Genovation is currently taking orders for the 75 examples of their electric Corvette slated for production, but placing an order will cost you $250,000 – a third of the $750,000 price tag. Although the current test car which set the EV top speed record at 209 miles per hour is based on a C6 Corvette Z06, the Genovation production cars will be built on the C7 Corvette, and with those cars topping out below $100,000 – the GXE package is essentially a $650,000 performance upgrade.

With that price, we can expect that these electric Corvettes will be strictly for the ultra-wealthy, but through the sales of the 75 2019 Genovation Corvettes, the Maryland-based company hopes to be able to work on building a more affordable version in the future.

Click here for more details on the $750k Genovation GXE production car.