Ferrari unveil hybrid car

The Telegraph ^ | 3/2/2010 | Andrew English in Geneva

[bruinbirdman]

Electric cars and green technology dominate at this year's Geneva Motor Show, which opened its doors on Tuesday, but no one expected a hybrid Ferrari.

This Kermit-green Ferrari 599 hybrid is one of the stars of the show and a sure sign that even supercar makers are beginning to address their environmental impact.

Called HY-KERS, the hybrid two-seater uses Ferrari's Formula One Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) to recover the braking and decelerating energy in a state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery.

That electrical energy is converted into about 650 volts, which gives an additional 100 horsepower that is used to supplement the acceleration of the six-litre V12 petrol engine and also run the engine's air conditioning and power-steering pumps.

While the HY-KERS is strictly an experimental vehicle at present, Favaretto Fabrizio, a Ferrari engineer says that it is capable of improving the 15.8mpg fuel consumption and reducing the 415g/km carbon dioxide emissions by up to a third in each case.

It would also be very expensive at present, almost doubling the £207,075 list price of the 205mph 599 GTB Fiorano, although Ferrari aims to have the 220lb system in production within five years at a far more affordable price and a lighter weight.

Trouble is, the KERS system has been dropped from Formula One this season as it was deemed too expensive, troublesome and not effective enough. Ferrari says that the F1 authorities will be reviewing the role of KERS in future seasons and that it is just recovering its development costs by fitting it to the road car.

Ferrari also unveiled a stop/start system for its California model and Mercedes-Benz did the same for its new high performance AMG tuning arm.

These system aim to save fuel by switching the engine off at road junctions and traffic

[Cobra64]

I'll stick with the electric Porsche.

[beagleone]

absurd. Truly absurd. When it comes to sports cars, either go purely electric or not at all. Hybrids add too much weight to be competitive in terms of acceleration, handling or braking. This is common sense.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

"it was deemed too expensive, troublesome and not effective enough."

Nuff said. I follow F1 and know all about this. Most F1 cars didn't even run it last year, and those that did only chose it for select tracks that have long stretches of open road. It gave the cars only a slight horsepower boost for a couple seconds on long straightaways when the driver hit a button. Then most of the time, it had to be recharged from braking. All F1 cars have exact limits set on how many RPMs the engine is allowed to max at, but the advantage gained wasn't much. It was a pie in the sky attempt by F1 to appear they were being more "green". Like Indyracing shoving ethonol fuel down everyone's throats.

[VOA]

“
This Kermit-green Ferrari 599 hybrid...
“

It ain’t easy being green...
(I’m foggy, but I do think Kermit or his operators said
something to that effect)

[Proud_USA_Republican]

Ironic, yes, because Ferrari considers their consumer cars to be a comical fleecing of people with more money than brains. A hybrid Ferrari which will have an even higher price tag, even worse for the mostly billionaire hippies like Sir Richard Brason its marketed for.
Enzo Ferrari always saw them as simple a way to bankroll Ferrari racing teams, especially F1, which allows them to always outspend anyone else and dominate.
Everytime you pay several thousand dollars for those every 5000 mile tuneups Ferrari demands, your helping bankroll their F1 team.

[valkyry1]

Yea these Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems are pretty much a waste on most all vehicles when you factor in all the hardware, expense, etc for what you get back out them in recovered energy.

[the crow]

F1 bump

[6SJ7]

That car is not just green, it’s a rather pathetic, minty, committee design kind of green. If one is going to paint a sports car green, at least use something classic like Lotus Green.

[raybbr]

Kermit sings "It's Not That Easy Being Green".

[Chode]

coool...