2026 Chevy Corvette Performance SUV Aims to Establish a New Era, At Least Virtually

Of course, GM botched the EV approach. While a few years ago, they were quite proud of their then-upcoming BEV3 platform and Ultium technologies, nowadays, the zero-emissions hype has almost sailed past them, taking Tesla with it and putting the company within reach of major milestones like having the second best-selling nameplate worldwide in production and sold as the Model Y mid-size crossover SUV.

As such, we are not surprised that GM decided to rekindle its love for plug-in hybrids. After all, they are about to establish a new paradigm for their flagship Corvette C8 generation with the start of deliveries for the hybrid-powered E-Ray. The latter has started doing the review rounds, and a recent dyno test revealed great baseline numbers.

While it's too expensive to make a dent in sales – the 2024 Corvette E-Ray starts from $105k – it's still a sign of things to come: hybrid assistance, AWD, and it even has a Stealth Mode, allowing it to move as a full EV with power sent solely to the front wheels. Anyway, the E-Ray might not be the only hybrid Corvette coming out for the C8 generation. Instead, the rumor mill also talks about a ZR1 using the Z06 powertrain with added turbos, as well as an electrified flagship Zora variant with hypercar levels of power.

Well, the rumor mill – and especially the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, has another potential development, too. The Halo oto channel on YouTube provides fresh automotive info corroborated with their virtual designs; now, there are new CGI ideas about an upcoming Corvette SUV that have been rumored for years but never materialized.

The project may be abandoned by Team Corvette, as far as anyone knows, but the parallel universes of vehicular CGI don't mind that – and instead, the channel's resident pixel master cooked up something that could easily pass as a Lambo Urus super-SUV competitor. Since we're all here holding hands in the realm of wishful thinking, we also have a proposal – this Corvette SUV would be great with the 655-hp electrified powertrain of the C8 Corvette E-Ray hidden under the hood. Or, even better, it could easily get upgraded to a PHEV system with a larger battery tucked between and below the seats.

So, what do you think? Should Chevy dare to oppose a Corvette SUV to the super-SUV realm of Aston DBX, Lambo Urus, or BMW XM? Or are they better off making only the traditional coupe and convertible models?