Chevrolet to offer electrified Corvette by next year, fully electric to follow

April 25 (UPI) -- Chevrolet announced Monday that an electrified Corvette will be on the market as early as next year followed by a fully electric version.

The company, a division of the Detroit-based automaker General Motors, made the announcement in a post on its official Twitter page with a brief video showing a professional driver speeding away in a black-and-white version of the sports car.

General Motors applauded the announcement in its own post with a link to the video clip.

GM President Mark Reuss first confirmed the move to CNBC.

"We will have an electrified Corvette next year, so it's coming very quick," Reuss told CNBC's Phil LeBeau during an interview on "Squawk Box." "This is in addition to all of the great performance that Chevrolet and Corvette have been known for, for many, many years with our internal combustion engines."

Reuss told CNBC that traditional models with internal combustion engines will be manufactured alongside the electrified models, but did not disclose yet whether they would be traditional hybrid or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

He also confirmed the announcement on his LinkedIn page.

"Yes, in addition to the amazing new Chevrolet Corvette ZO6 and other gas-powered variants coming, we will offer an electrified and a fully electric, Ultium-based Corvette as early as next year," Reuss said in the LinkedIn post. "Details and names to come at a later date."

GM also announced on Monday that the automaker has developed a heat pump that recovers energy from electric vehicle batteries through the Ultium Platform's energy recovery system to warm the cabin, potentially charge the vehicle more efficiently, and increase acceleration.

On Monday, GM also asked suppliers to join the company in a new pledge to advance human rights protections for employees and sustainability within the next few years, and achieve carbon neutrality in vehicle manufacturing by 2035.

Last August, President Joe Biden signed an executive order setting a goal for half of all new vehicles to be electric by 2030.

Biden, a Corvette owner, also previously told The Hill that he had a commitment from the GM CEO Mary Barra that "when they make the first electric Corvette, I get to drive it."