The Ultimate Canadian Car Blog
RSS icon Email icon Home icon
  • Ferrari to Have Hybrid Option For Every Model In Its Lineup

    Posted on March 4th, 2010 admin No comments

    ferrari-599-hybrid-birdseye

    Move over Toyota, Ferrari wants to take your hybrid crown away. Yes, Ferrari. Even though red is the colour of choice for any true Ferrari enthusiast, you can expect to see many green Ferraris in every sense of the word in the coming years.

    Even though the Head of Ferrari is playing the role of Debbie Downer for the 599 hybrid’s launch date, the above shot is indeed the 599 hybrid version in green taken at this year’s Geneva Auto Show.

    And Ferrari isn’t going to stop there. The Chairman of Ferrari Luca di Montezemolo says that he would like to see every Ferrari owner have the choice of a hybrid option no matter which model they are interested in. And soon too.

    Says Montezemolo “This is a first step of a long project and we want within three years, maximum four, to have a hybrid Ferrari car ready for every single product of our range. This is our goal. In three years we aim to cut emissions by a minimum of 35 percent.”

    Even though they are not volume sellers, supercars tend to chug as much or sometimes more gas than most large SUV’s so this is welcomed news.

  • Porsche 918 Spyder: 0-100 in 3.2 Seconds + 3 l/100 kms!

    Posted on March 2nd, 2010 admin No comments

    100208

    Granted there is likely some catch to the effect of it not being able to achieve 3l/100kms while it’s doing 0-100 in 3.2 seconds, but still, it is quite impressive nevertheless.

    This plug-in concept will feature a V8 producing 500 horsepower matched to an electric motor that produces 218 horsepower for a combined horsepower rating of 718. The 918 Spyder concept operates like any other parallel hybrid where the gas and electric motor can work in conjunction with each other or indepentendly depending on the driving conditions. The car also features electric drive (E-Drive) which means it can travel up to 25 kilometres on the electric motor alone.

    On the environmental end, Porsche claims a CO2 raiting of just 70 grams per kilometer.

    Except to see many more supercars attempting to acheive performance yet efficiency as BMW is hoping to pull off a similar trick with its production version of its Vision EfficientDynamics concept and with Ferrari expecting to introduce a hybrid version of its 599 at Geneva very shortly.

  • Ferrari’s Future: Hybridized 599 Coming In 2015

    Posted on February 11th, 2010 admin 1 comment

    ferrari_458_italia
    Yes, we are aware that that is not the 599 you see above, but any opportunity to post the ridiculously good looking 458 Italia will be taken advantage of.

    The 599 will be the model selected to get the hybrid treatment, but don’t expect it any time soon. 2015 is the projected release, and even that isn’t written in stone. The head of Ferrari Amedeo Felisa recently said of the 599 hybrid:

    “The technology is not ready. The suppliers are not ready. Everything is underdevelopped. There is a lot of work to do. It’s not for tomorrow. We haven’t decided when (it will be introduced)”

    While we are a bit disappointed in the 599 hybrid’s excessive delay, Felisa’s no-nonsense approach to being interviewed is appreciated. Just tell it like it is.

    There are some people who aren’t so impressed at the idea of a hybridized Ferrari though. Ferrari’s are the epitome of performance not efficiency and any attempt to address the latter would likely compromise the former which is blasphomy in the Ferrari world. But the fact of the matter is, this new venture into efficiency is not an option for Ferrari, it’s a necessity or else its existence will fade away quicker than George W. Bush’s credibility.

    But Ferarri has another trick up its sleeve.

    Read the rest of this entry »