Green Ferrari?
Submitted by MikeWhelan on 3 March, 2010 - 07:00
Ferrari used the Geneva Motor Show to unveil a hybrid future that it says will not only make its sports cars more efficient, but also aid their handling and performance.
Pulling the wraps off a lime green version of the 599, fitted with the Prancing Horse's new hybrid powertrain, CEO Luca di Montezemolo joked that you "don't normally see a green Ferrari" on the firm's Geneva stand but that this marked a "new direction."
Unsurprisingly the technology has been developed using lessons learned in formula one. But the first step to incorporating the systems in production cars will be to introduce a hybrid flywheel version of every Ferrari within three years. That alone is claimed to cut each Ferrari's emissions by 35 percent.
A full Ferrari hybrid model is unlikely to appear in showrooms until 2015 at the earliest, but intensive testing has already begun in earnest to ensure the powertrain fulfills requirements.
By 2018, Ferrari has stated that it expects its range average CO2 emissions to be around 240g/km, down from today's 310g/km.
