Chevy Camaro eCOPO Envisions A 700-Horsepower Electric Drag Racer

Racing is electrifying. And we don’t just mean that it’s exciting for fans. It’s actually going electric, from Formula E to touring cars to rally. And if Chevy gets its way, drag racing could be next.

The Bowtie brand is showcasing this conceptual Camaro drag racer at the SEMA show this week. It’s called the eCOPO Camaro, and it packs 700 horsepower (522 kW) along with 600 lb-ft (814 Nm) of torque – all of it from electric motors.

Chevy started with the existing COPO Camaro, designed as it already is for drag racing, and replaced the V8 engine with an electric motor assembly with a huge battery pack in the trunk. The system is based on a pair of BorgWarner HVH 250-150 motors, each generating 300 lb-ft (407 Nm) of torque, and connects to a conventional Turbo 400 automatic transmission.

In the back, it installed four 200-volt battery modules, each weighing 175 pounds (79 kg), to give it a combined 800 volts of electrical power. It even extended the roll cage rearwards to protect the batteries in case of a crash. Though development is still ongoing, Chevy expects the eCOPO to run the quarter-mile (402 meters) in about nine seconds.

“The eCOPO Concept is all about where we go in the future with electrification in the high performance space,” said GM performance chief Russ O’Blenes. “The original COPO Camaro program was all about pushing the envelope, and this concept is an exploration with the very same spirit.”

What’s more is that the electric motor assembly is designed to drop into place of the conventional engine, hooking up to the same drivetrain components – potentially opening the door to offering this kind of setup for customers, just as it does with its internal-combustion crate engines.

“The possibilities are intriguing and suggest a whole new world for racers,” O’Blenes added. “Chevrolet pioneered the concept of the high-performance crate engine right around the time the original COPO Camaro models were created, and the eCOPO project points to a future that could include electric crate motors for racing, or even your street rod. We’re not there yet, but it’s something we’re exploring.”