Hybrid Technologies Shows 220mpg Supercar
Automotive X-Prize Entry
By Brian Potter
May 29, 2008 7:31 PM
Filed Under: American, Green, Technology
Sports car are just the thing to make hybrid technology go mainstream. As pioneering players in the emerging field, Tesla and Fisker are leading the way, but there is a new kid on the block. North Carolina based, Hybrid Technologies, have announced a lithium-ion powered hybrid supercar that will hopefully achieve a range of 150 to 180 miles for the electric-powered model, and while a lithium-ion gas-electric hybrid will be expected to hit at least 220mpg. That's a staggering range compared to the Fisker Karma that does 50 miles on electric-power alone. As R&D continues Hybrid Technologies will be entered into the Automotive X-Prize with the unnamed vehicle and says that a working prototype will be revealed in September.
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No, sports cars are NOT "the thing to make hybrid technology go mainstream." Hybrid sports cars will only ever exist after hybrid technology has already been established; so far the entries for this Automotive X-Prize competition are failing to meet my expectations. It's nice to claim a range of 150 miles and show renderings of a textbook supercar shape, but where is the appeal? Appeal is the necessary ingredient in making something mainstream. This car, however... it's stupidity. Fast is nothing without flash, and flash is loud and bothersome -- everything hybrids are not. EVs and hybrids ought to be fast, innovative, frugal, and provide revolutionary practicality if they're ever to capture the imaginations of automotive enthusiasts and go mainstream.
I think you are stuck beleiving that all hybrid vehicles have to be stuck with smaller engines. Hybrid sports cars should use there gasoline powered counter parts, the hybrid aspect should be added ontop as a means to improve performance/effieciency of an already exhilerating vehicle. As long as they don't cut back to tiny 4 bangers hybrid supercars are a very logical starting point for hybrid technology.
I suffer no such illusions about hybrid technology, but thanks for sharing your opinion. I agree with you; however, this is an Automotive X-Prize entry... therefore, it won't have a big engine. =P And electric sports cars are incredibly boring.
check out the youtube video of the wrightspeed atom some time. For the performance, it is far far from a boring electric sports car.
That Wrightspeed Atom is pretty crazy, no doubt, and I'm fully aware of the performance advantages to EVs. Electric sports cars, however, will never be able to compete with their petrol counterparts in any area but performance. And, ironically enough, that is not the main point of owning a sports car. (You'll notice ugly/conservative, quiet sports cars never sell very well.) EVs don't have transmissions; they don't have exhaust systems; they don't have nearly the same testosterone-based appeal as crude, brash internal combustion. I love EVs, but I'm not naive enough to think sports car variants will ever be more appealing than petrol-powered sports cars.
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But then 220mpg thats amazing