GM to sell a gas-electric hybrid Corvette starting next year

General Motors is almost ready to launch a new, partially gas-powered and partially electric Chevrolet Corvette, a senior company official said Monday.

President Mark Reuss said in a statement on LinkedIn that the automaker will begin selling the hybrid-style Corvette “starting next year.” He also said GM plans to sell an all-electric Corvette in the future.

An electrified vehicle usually means a gas-electric hybrid or a plug-in rechargeable hybrid, but more details about the vehicles are expected later. Interest in electric vehicles is rising among consumers as gas prices have soared to more than $ 4 a gallon in the U.S. Separately, the demand for an electric Corvette has been growing among the sports car fan base.

GM has produced cars and trucks that consume gas for most of its existence. The company now aims to launch more than 30 electric vehicle models in the next three years and wants to become a carbon-neutral company by 2040.

The Corvette is one of GM’s many electric vehicles to drive sales. GM already offers the Electric Bolt, a subcompact hatchback that is manufactured in Michigan. The company announced in January that it will do so they sell an electric Chevrolet Silverado van.

The new pickup, scheduled for fall 2023 with a starting price of about $ 40,000, will be able to travel 400 miles on a full charge and can be customized to include plugs capable of charging a second electric vehicle. The all-electric truck is part of GM’s plans to spend $ 35 billion on electric and autonomous vehicles over the next three years.

The Corvette is one of GM’s best-known vehicles, which for decades has attracted the love of gears. President Biden spoke last August about how he had held a conversation with General Motors CEO Mary Barra about wanting to test an electric Corvette once it was built.

GM has the new Corvette and the company’s global push into the electric vehicle market to help boost turbocharged sales. For nearly a century, GM sold more cars to American consumers than any other automaker, but last year Toyota sold 114,000 more cars than its rival.

Earlier this month, GM and Honda announced that they plan to jointly develop some affordable electric vehicles that will use GM’s next-generation Ultium battery technology. The vehicles include a compact Chevrolet Equinox SUV, which will sell for about $ 30,000. It is expected to go on sale in North America next year.

In January, GM said it plans to spend about $ 7 billion to convert a factory to make electric trucks and build a new battery plant. The company is building two battery plants in Ohio and Tennessee and plans to create two more in the United States to meet what is expected to be a growing demand for electric vehicle batteries in the coming years.