11/10/08

Ferrari to develop hybrid cars

Ferrari GT California

Pollution is a big thing and governments are acting to stop every part of it. Such is the case with cars which have a high output of CO2, manufacturers are forced to keep up with stricter and stricter norms of pollution, the European Council setting a date of 2012 until all manufacturers need to have cars that eliminate at most 130 g/km of CO2.

“Fine” said almost all the big producers, smaller and more fuel efficient engines are good for budget models, but for high end producers like Ferrari or Lamborghini, with a tradition of big performance V8, V12 or even W16 engines, this regulation pulls the warning signal. Luca di Montezemolo, president of Ferrari has declared for the german magazine Welt am Sonntag that the italian manufacturer has already began to develop hybrid tehnologies which will power the future models of his company.

The company’s goal ? A model with 40 % fewer emissions of CO2 until 2012. The means of achieving this goal ? As always their Formula 1 experience, more specifically, the KERS which stands for Kynetic Energy Recycling System, basically the energy developped from braking the car is stored in a battery and then used for momments when the car needs that extra bit of power, such as overtaking or cornering.

These hybrid tehnologies won’t change Ferrari’s philosophy about cars, “it would still be a Ferrari” said Montezemolo, and the first models will most likely appear as early as 2015. The first steps towards a more eco-friendly Ferrari are already being taken, by using more “greener” turbocharged V6 engines on the more recent models.

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