New Ferrari Hybrid Super Car is Lightest Ever, and More Efficient

[Tom Hitchcock]

Electric and hybrid supercars are getting more and more common, and the myth that it needs to be slow and heavy is being constantly contradicted.

Now, an upcoming Ferrari flywheel hybrid supercar may weigh a mere 2,500 pounds or less.

The supercar uses a flywheel to store energy and provide it with a power boost when desired.

The body of this Ferrari hybrid is expected to be 20% lighter than the Ferrari Enzo, and should reduce its emissions by 40%.

[Alan]

Electric and hybrid supercars are getting more and more common, and the myth that it needs to be slow and heavy is being constantly contradicted.
The body of this Ferrari hybrid is expected to be 20% lighter than the Ferrari Enzo, and should reduce its emissions by 40%.

Surely even after a 40% reduction this car will still be producing a humungous quantity of CO2?

[Ulrik]

The Enzo’s emissions are currently 545g of CO2 per km, according to the Guardian (The F150 hybrid mentioned above is a new 'green' version of the Enzo). So reducing this by 40% would give the F150 a figure of 327g of CO2 per km.

Average new car emissions in Europe are 138g/km and the European Union has set a target of 95g/km by 2020.

Niche manufacturers such as Ferrari, however are exempt.

[Seabastian.Smith]

I don't believe it was ever Ferrari's aim to try and create a low carbon vehicle. They merely wanted to use the technology to create a low-ER carbon vehicle, which they could then brand as a green vehicle and sell to the public at a marked up price using that USP.

[Alan]

So you are saying that Ferrari is completely cynical about exploiting a perceived market niche?

[Seabastian.Smith]

Basically. It is a business. Business decisions are about profit, not ethics.

[Dhrivnak]

I would say Ferrari is doing it for the performance. The Tesla Roadster sport can reach 100 kph faster than all but the very fastest Ferraris, at 3.7 seconds. And Tesla manages that on less than 90g of CO2/km on the average grid emissions in the USA. If we progress with nuclear, wind or solar the Tesla can get to 0g of CO2/km. So it looks like Ferarri is playing catch up.

[Biggles]

I don't think they will be playing catch up for too long. They have some of the best engineers in the business working for them. It's a big market and plenty of space for lots of players.

[Ulrik]

Nuclear and wind? really? I seriously doubt either of those will ever become a mainstream power source for vehicles, even with the prize of 0g of CO2/Km.

[Alan]

In the long term, if electric cars become a mainstream transport source, and nuclear and wind become mainstream energy sources, cars can run on 0 gm/km. It can only happen when incentives are there, i.e. when petroleum is scarce, which means, not yet.