Seoul show: Chevrolet does it Mi-ray

DAEWOO is dead and, as if to underline the fact Chevrolet has replaced it as The General’s principal brand in South Korea, the US car-maker staged the global debut of a futuristic hybrid-powered Chevy sportscar at the Seoul motor show this week.

Powered by an advanced “mid-electric” drivetrain and wrapped in an equally cutting-edge open-top roadster body, the compact two-seater Mi-ray – which means ‘future’ in Korean – can be driven purely on electric power via its front wheels or with the extra urge of a turbocharged petrol engine that delivers power to its rear wheels.

The unique powertrain concept, which reverses the drive configuration previously seen in a number of other petrol-electric hybrid models and is claimed to maximise both performance and fuel-efficicency, resides beneath the vehicle’s occupants.

It comprises two front-mounted 15kW electric motors – powered by a 1.6kWh lithium-ion battery pack that is recharged via a regenerative braking system - which deliver brisk, zero-emissions acceleration via the front wheels during normal.

When extra performance is called for, however, the Mi-ray employs a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine to drive its rear wheels, turning the edgy new concept car into an on-demand all-wheel drive sportscar.

Making the surprising new Mi-ray concept even more tantalising, GM says the car’s internal combustion engine is matched with a quick-shifting, fuel-saving dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Apart from highlighting the importance of the Chevrolet brand – which celebrates it centenary this year - to GM in Korea, the lightweight Mi-ray concept, which wears carbonfibre-reinforced plastic bodywork on an aluminium chassis, also exists to demonstrate GM Korea’s design and engineering capability.

Styled at GM’s Advanced Design Studio in Seoul, the US car-maker’s global ‘homeroom’ for small-car development, GM says the Mi-ray pays homage to Chevrolet’s sportscar heritage by borrowing a number of design cues from landmark models like the 1963 Monza SS and 1962 Corvair Super Spyder.

GM Korea’s first concept car also brandished Le Mans racer-style scissor doors, massively flared front wheel-arches that create a Z-shape by intersecting with a sharp bodyside crease, LED headlights and staggered 20 and 21-inch front and rear wheels.

Inside the space-aged spyder concept’s dual-cockpit cabin, which is surrounded by a single low-slung pillarless windscreen that wraps around the front and sides of the vehicle, there is a jet aircraft-style central start button, front to rear ambient lighting and asymmetrically positioned seats.

Though it may never see the light of a Chevrolet – let alone Holden – showroom, the Mi-ray was revealed in Korea on the same day GM released the first teaser image of Chevrolet’s all-new Malibu mid-size sedan, which has been confirmed to replace Holden’s lacklustre Epica in Australia next year.