The videographer behind the Wheels Plus channel on YouTube is always a big fan of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and recently found a couple of ICE vs EV brawls – which is always a good reason to stick around for the silent electrons versus roaring V8 action.
The famous Strip over at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (located in North Las Vegas, Nevada) has seen many encounters over the years – the complex of tracks, which also includes a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) tri-oval intermediate speedway, is home to a dragstrip that was built during the initial opening, more than 50 years ago.
The new dragstrip, now known as The Strip, then opened in 2000 and, in 2017, was expanded to the current configuration of four lanes. But these ones are decidedly quirky – America's sports car is now in a mid-engine configuration and has to prove its mettle against tank-heavy all-electric sedans running (fast and silent) on nothing but electrons.
So, the protagonists are both of the novel variety – the C8 generation of the legendary Chevrolet Corvette, which recently switched from the classic front-engine RWD to a mid-engine RWD or AWD configuration, and the Lucid Air EV. This behemoth luxury sedan seeks to bring down Tesla's eternal Model S but won't stop from trying to stomp on the V8 legacy along the way.
As for the versions, the two Chevy Corvettes caught on the video embedded below are both of the Stingray variety – whereas the Air wasn't identified. Anyway, the EV sedan's power ranges from 620 to 1,234 horsepower, as even the base Air Touring model is above the 495-hp Stingray Z51.
On the other hand, the C8 is a proper mid-engine sports car and a veritable supercar killer, whereas the Lucid is a massive electric sedan – both in terms of dimensions and weight. Well, the owner of the white Corvette (with tasty black and crimson stripes plus black wheels and red brake calipers) probably thought they could beat the behemoth in a classic David versus Goliath skirmish disguised as an ICE versus EV brawl.
Well, thanks to a great and clean start from the C8, it seemed like the modern underdog might win the fight, but despite the roar of the naturally aspirated V8, the big EV sedan pushed relentlessly and nailed a 10.94s versus 12.43s victory at 127 mph, whereas the Chevy opponent only reached almost 114 mph.
Obviously, with massive torque at its disposal and unaffected by the track's elevation, which stands at 1980 feet, the electric sedan ultimately conquered the sports car bastion. Well, the burgundy C8 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray that came up next for a skirmish probably didn't see the outcome of the first brawl as it confidently came up to challenge the Lucid Air.
The latter driver didn't back down, and they lined up for a repeat of the ICE versus EV story. Well, this time around, the C8 driver didn't even nail a great start, and the all-wheel drive EV took command of the race from start to finish: 10.81s at 128 mph versus 12.52s at 112 mph! So, what do you think? Would the result be different if these two Corvettes were of the Z06 variety? How about if they were the electrified and all-wheel drive 655-hp E-Ray models?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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