Chevy eCopo Camaro shows up at drag strip popping wheelies
The eCopo Camaro Concept offers an electrified vision of drag racing, with an electric motor and GM’s first 800-volt battery pack replacing the gas engine, enabling nine-second quarter-mile times.
It ran the risk of angering just about every drag racing enthusiast, but Chevrolet’s new eCopo Camaro — a fully electric dragster with zero emissions — is now popping wheelies on drag strips just like quarter-mile fans love.
Motor Trend caught the eCopo at Arizona’s Wild Horse Pass drag strip. The first pass was taken at 50 per cent of the Camaro’s variable ramp rate, and at that setting it hit a 10.14-second quarter mile.
Once the motors had been dialed up to 100, it managed a 10.03-second time, crossing the line at 222 kilometres per hour.
The quick times are thanks to the eCopo’s two dualstacked electric motors that produce just under 800 horsepower and 634 lb.-ft of torque. Instead of having two motors hooked up to each axle like in a Tesla, the motors in the Camaro are in the same spot as the engine would be, connected directly to the automatic transmission.
The car isn’t designed to be a daily driver, and only has a 32-kWh battery pack, which is charged up before every run to ensure the most power possible.
The Camaro eCopo is part of GM’s shift toward a transportation future with zero emissions, zero crashes and zero congestion.