Yup, a GT3 Hybrid. For those who don’t follow automotive news and may have missed the official debut of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid at the Geneva Auto Show, then this is breaking news! For those who already know, here’s another article loaded with information you already read 300 times…

Not only is this a 911, a car that already gets 28 mpg (claimed by other owners), you now have a 911 in gt3 trim with an electric front axel that houses two electric motors giving you additional power on top of 480bhp. Almost sounds like a KERS based system making its way into a 911, but it isn’t. It’s something different.

How It Works: The front axels house two electric motors producing 60kW for each front wheel. The interesting concept is the battery-less (that’s right!) system that utilizes an electrical flywheel power generator fitted in the interior next to the driver and is able to deliver energy to the electric motors up front.

Another interesting technical item is the generator itself is an electric motor with its own rotor spinning at 40,000 rpm. This allows for the generator to store energy mechanically as rotational energy, which differs from most Hybrid systems. The flywheel generator is charged whenever the brakes are applied with the two electric motors reversing their function on the front axle and acting themselves as generators.
The driver can then release the stored energy with a push of a button and feel the instantaneous rush of boosted power. The draw back is the recharge cycle (about 6-8 seconds) that the system needs in order to make the boosted power available again. On track it seems it could work out in between corners, but it all depends on the track. Also Porsche does claim that with the hybrid system, the car doesn’t need to store as much fuel, effectively lightening the car. Without the weight of batteries, this may actually be true.

Porsche is planning to make several testing runs on the Nürburgring to make sure all the bugs are worked out. Stayed tuned for more updates.

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F/A-18 Green Super Hornet run on 50% biofuel

This site is called Green-Racer and we’re environmentally conscious speed addicts here. Therefore a press release from the Department of the Navy caught my eye. April 22nd is Earthday, and to celebrate it the US Navy is going to demonstrate the ‘Green Hornet,’ an F/A-18 Super Hornet powered by a 50/50 biofuel blend. The test is a demonstration of an initiative to increase warfighting capabilities by reducing our dependence on fossil fuels from unstable regions. By 2016 the Navy wants to have a “Great Green Fleet,” of nuclear ships, surface machinery with hybrid electric power, and aircraft flying only on biofuels. By 2020 half of the total Department of the Navy’s energy consumption will come from alternative sources.

The ‘Green Hornet’s’ biofuel blend is from the camelina sativa plant, which is a US-grown food source. The point of the test is to demonstrate the Navy’s initiative towards green energy, and to confirm there’s no difference in performance compared to standard petroleum-based JP-5 jet propellant. The test will take place at the Navy Fuels Lab at NAVAIR Patuxent River, MD. Plans to transition to biofuels have already begun for the Marine Corps as well.

Source: LeftLaneNews.com

Yes Ferrari is going “green” folks.  Based on the 599 GTB Fiorano, this hybrid is not only stunning to stare at, but I would go as far as to hang a poster of it on my wall.   Using the KERS technology used in their F1 race car, the HY-KERS hybrid concept carries an 88 pound electric motor attached to the rear of the seven-speed F1 transmission.   Power is applied via the gearbox’s two clutches, which combined with the V12 produces a whopping 100 hp over the standard car. That’s 712hp total!

Performance specs are not available at the moment, but Ferrari says that the hybrid has the same performance characteristics that all Ferrari’s are born with.   Our hope is that with the added weight of the low mounted battery packs (lithium-ion), the Ferrari HY-KERS Hybrid doesn’t become an understeering  tank with every flick of the wheel.  If Ferrari plays their cards right, they may have a shot of being the first hybrid on the Top Gear  cool wall that’s actually “cool”.  What do you think?

The Engineers at Porsche just warmed my heart a little.

Have you ever wanted to go around the Nurburgring in 7 min, 30 sec? – That’s faster than a Porsche Carrera GT. Do you want to do it in a car that can get you 78mpg at cruising speeds? Do you want to do it in a car which is drop-dead gorgeous and features all the stunning looks of an exotic supercar while still earning the kudos head nods from earth-friendly citizens? I thought so.

Porsche’s 500+ hp 918 Spyder Hybrid features a mid-mounted 3.4L V8, and liquid-cooled lithium ion battery cells positioned behind the passenger, ahead of the engine. After unplugging the car from your home in Beverly Hills, and with a full charge, your 918 Spyder Hybrid will get to 60 mph in just 3.2 seconds. Just make sure to do all your drag racing while the batteries are full, because without a serious charge your performance numbers will dwindle.

Drop-dead gorgeous profile

Congratulations to Porsche for putting some focus on intending to build a hybrid. At first glance I might overlook the 918, expecting it to never reach production but this time I’m putting my money on it. Porsche have distanced themselves pretty far from the technology of the old air-cooled models from as late as the mid-90′s. This new model is very exciting for the future of hybrid technology. The other feature worth mentioning is aerodynamics. It’s not like we haven’t known flat wheels and undersides, curvy lines, low profiles, and extended rears were all necessary for slip-stream aerodynamics. It’s just nice to see car makers are finally finding more solutions to those aerodynamic woes, and inventing ways to make them look good. Now for some more eye candy…

Me likey.

Hold me back.

Toyota has officially rained on everyone’s parade by coming out and saying its youthful Scion brand won’t be receiving any hybrid models anytime soon. Rumors started kicking up that we could expect an electrified runabout from the Japanese automaker when Honda began making waves with its CR-Z, but Toyota says there’s one thing that’s stopping the company from taking the plunge on a battery-powered fuel saver: cost. In order to keep all of the brand’s products at below $20,000, Scion’s going to be skipping the hybrid craze.

We’re not entirely sold on that logic. While it’s true the Prius will hit your wallet for around $22,000, Toyota raised a few eyebrows with its FT-CH concept at the Detroit Auto Show. At its unveiling, Toyota said the car is intended to be a more affordable, more fun to drive dedicated hybrid. Sounds like a perfect Scion to us, but not to Scion VP Jack Hollis. While speaking with Ward’s Automotive, Hollis said his brand may consider hybrids in the future, but it will use a totally different platform.

That seems like a real shame to us. Getting young drivers in a hybrid could be the first step in creating a life-long dedication to more economical driving, but until the cost of hybrid technology takes a big dip, that’s not likely to happen.

Laugh all you want, GM’s 2-Mode hybrid system is pretty impressive. When equipped with an electric motor and batteries, the Chevrolet Tahoe 2wd jumps from a mere 12/17 mpg (city/highway) to a more tolerable 21/22 mpg (city/highway). Not too shabby for an eight-passenger leviathan. Now it looks like The General is investing plenty of time and money into slimming the system down for use in its rear-wheel drive platforms. As of right now, GM keeps its hybrid wares to massive SUVs. Those platforms offer up plenty of space for batteries and electric motors, and the big V8 engines have no problem toting around a little extra weight.

GM says its next generation of hybrid systems should be significantly smaller while producing quite a bit more power. The stats say Detroit’s shooting to cut the size by up to 25 percent while boosting power by 20 percent. If that’s true, the tech could make its way into the significantly smaller Cadillac CTS and ATS. Considering the base CTS isn’t exactly boring to hustle around a track, we could imagine a CTS Coupe Hybrid would push all the right buttons.

Unfortunately, we’ve got a good long time to wait for the tech to show itself on the streets. Early word is the new two-mode system will reach our greedy little hands by around 2013. That’s a long time to wait, to be sure, but it’s at least reassuring to know GM isn’t turing its back on hybrid technology despite lackluster sales.

Source\ ABGreen

For a company that prides themselves as a high quality auto maker, these sort of recalls/issues are not going to keep them on their podium. My feeling is with the ambitious goals of expansion, Toyota is seeing the consequences of such rapid growth. My hope would be that Toyota would scale back and reinforce their quality standards and make sure issues of this severity are not allowed to entire the market.

Also one last note to the PR folks at Toyota: Make sure Akio Toyoda (CEO) doesn’t get into another competitors car (Audi) when there is a ton of press coverage questioning the quality of your product.

On that note, I hope Toyota gets all the issues sorted out so they can concentrate more on affordable sports cars that gets awesome MPG… one can only dream…

Apple's iPad

Okay, so Apple’s newly announced iPad isn’t a car, nor does it revolutionize anything about the car industry—or does it? Perhaps you got a chance to enjoy the hype leading upto the big iPad announcement and thought the iPad left you a bit wondering, and expecting more features. To you I say, the secret behind Apple’s success isn’t Steve Job’s diabolical plot to own the world, but his attention to detail and obsessive desire to make products which function best. Lots of people were left disappointed without a full-blown Mac OS-based iPad. They expected a camera, they expected more harddrive space, the list goes on. Where manufacturers have traditionally tried to cram as many features into products as possible, Apple’s approach through the lifespan of the company has been to accept technological limitations and only include features which make the product “insanely great.” The iPad isn’t a laptop, nor is it a smartphone, nor is it a Mac Pro workhorse computer. It is simply built as the easiest to use internet, email, app and photos product. The iPad is about being the best tool for the jobs we do most, and in that ideology it is another extension of a company devoted to defining what we use computers for.

Now the abrupt transition to the car industry. Rumors have been going around about the BMW Group developing a new hybrid-electric vehicle for a while now. They are developing the so-called “Megacity Vehicle” which will be a near zero-emission small city car, as well as the Mini E which is on track to sell soon. The trend in the car industry is going to be scaling down features, power, and weight, for an essential task vehicle which runs more efficiently. Hybrid and EV technology is expensive to develop, and some concerned scientists are criticizing hybrid makers for bundling too many features with their cars to water down the expensive technology with expensive upgrades.

BMW Megacity (artists rendering)

My point? You already have an iPhone, and a laptop, and soon an iPad, even though none of them replaces the Mac Pro or Dell PC you have to do your work on and store your porn. So why do we expect cars to do all the functions of city car and long distance tourer and sports vehicle? We need to recognize that we use cars for three very different purposes. We want one which is highly efficient and gets to work on cheap tires, one big one to travel long distances comfortably, and one to sit in the garage until Sundays when we head out to the track or do a little spirited driving.

If ever there was an SUV that begs for eco vandalism, it’s the Porsche Cayenne. The massive SUV is big for big’s sake. Though technically capable of tackling the challenges of the Trans-Siberian Rally, most Cayennes spend their time drinking their neighbor’s share of fuel and leaving more common motorists in the wake the behemoth’s sizeable carbon foot print. But according to Porsche, that may be about to change. The company says it plans to unveil the next-generation Cayenne at the Geneva Motor Show in March, and spear-heading the lineup is a new hybrid version of the bloated SUV.

We can expect concrete details as we get closer to the show, but for now we know the ute gets the majority of its power from a turbo 3.0-liter V6. Porsche rummaged around in the familial parts bin and plucked the engine straight from the delicious Audi S4. In that car, it’s capable of 325 horsepower and 324 lb-ft of torque, though so far Porsche isn’t saying exactly what the output will be in the Cayenne. An electric motor will add a bump in pep as well, and we’re guessing a start/stop function will help conserve fuel.

The good folk at Autocar were lucky enough to score some time behind the Cayenne S Hybrid Prototype’s wheel. According to them, the SUV feels just as fast as its standard internal combustion cousin. Does that mean Porsche will up the power in the standard version? It’s hard to tell just yet. We’ll keep you posted.

Source AutoblogGreen

Rumor has it Acura is finally taking a long hard look at the hybrid game. Honda’s luxury arm has been noticeably bereft of fuel-saving models, leaving the green market to rival Lexus. If the pesky whispers dusting up on the interwebs are to be believed, we could see a battery-laden Acura sometime soon. Even more surprising, the company is skipping the standard tactic of offsetting SUV fuel consumption with an electric motor. Instead of giving the MDX the electron treatment, rumors suggest the entry-level TSX sedan could be the first model to go hybrid.

Details are noticeably absent at the moment, leading us to take the whole thing with a grain of salt. Still, if true, odds are the hybrid TSX would benefit from Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist, or IMA. In that system, a thin pancake electric motor is situated between the engine and transmission. At low speeds, the motor can take over power duties, allowing the engine to cut cylinders or shut off all together. It can also add an extra punch when more power is needed for a pass.

At this point, it’s unclear which engine Acura would opt for, though a modified version of the current 2.4-liter four-cylinder is a possibility. In that configuration, power would likely sit close to the current 280 horsepower.

Source\ AllCarsElectric