You read that right. With its front-mounted electric motor, the E-Ray represents the return of the front-motor Vette—sort of. Putting it into all-electric Stealth mode also makes the E-Ray the first-ever front-wheel-drive Corvette, but silence breaks above 45 mph or following heavy throttle inputs. That’s when the vociferous 6.2-liter V-8 that powers the rear wheels joins the party, making the first hybrid Corvette also the first with all-wheel drive.

When we spoke to engineers who helped develop the hybrid Corvette, they told us the E-Ray has a top speed of around 180 mph. However, we were also told that the electric motor is geared out above the 150-mph mark. Still, good luck getting a more traditional hybrid such as the Toyota Prius to go that fast. GM also calls the E-Ray the quickest production Corvette ever built, hitting 60 mph in a claimed 2.5 seconds. If that turns out to be true, it would make it a tenth quicker than the Z06 we tested.

Along with being a neat party trick, the most useful thing about the Corvette E-Ray’s electric-only Stealth mode is the ability to exit your neighborhood without alerting the neighbors.
[Note: An earlier version of this story suggested there is no Stealth mode in reverse; actually, there is, so feel free to back away from your troubles.]

Not only is the E-Ray the first all-wheel-drive hybrid Corvette; it’s also the first car ever sold with both carbon-ceramic brakes and all-season tires as standard. The eBoost-assisted carbon-ceramic discs with Brembo six-piston front calipers and four-piston rear calipers fit inside the roomy 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheels, which are shod with all-season rubber that’s sized 275/30 and 345/25, respectively.

The Corvette E-Ray’s rear tires are immense. While the 275-section-width fronts are relatively large on their own, the 345-section-width rear tires are gargantuan by comparison. A stickier set for summer driving is also available, but all-season rubber is standard. Chevy engineers told us the all-seasons would be good for up to 1.0 g of lateral grip. We also learned the E-Ray’s rears are the widest all-season tires ever fitted to a production car, and we couldn’t find anything to debunk that claim.

By now, you’re probably wondering how much the electric motor, battery pack, and various other hybrid components add to the Corvette’s curb weight. Chevy engineers told us it’s about 300 pounds versus the Z06 versions. On our scales, a coupe weighed 3666 pounds and a convertible was 3799 pounds. Simple math suggests the latter will eclipse the 2-ton mark, making the droptop E-Ray the first model to weigh more than 4000 pounds and becoming the fattest Vette ever.

The Corvette E-Ray’s hybrid system doesn’t feature a plug, which is to say it has a short electric-only range of just a few miles. That’s by design, as the small 1.1-kWh battery pack stuffed between its passengers is intended to aid performance first and foremost, rather than outright efficiency. Chevy engineers explained the battery is designed to charge and discharge rapidly. The battery is said to last as long as the car has gas on short and tight road courses. However, that’s not the case on longer racetracks such as Virginia International Raceway (VIR), where the E-Ray’s unique Charge+ setting is required to maximize the battery’s state of charge.