A Hybrid Ferrari  

Plenty Magazine reports that a Ferrari hybrid really is on the way. While your initial reaction might be "who cares - I can't afford one" (I can't either unfortunately) I still think its a positive sign that all sectors of the vehicle manufacturing industry are starting to migrate towards hybrids and/or EVs.

In the chess game of emissions policies and carmaker resistance, Ferrari’s promise to have a hybrid on the market by 2015 is a sign that even niche corners of the automotive industry are moving towards greener vehicles. Confirming rumors that began circulating last year, the company’s president announced that it is indeed developing a hybrid sports car, but emphasized that a Ferrari hybrid would still be “fundamentally a Ferrari.”

The Italian company also aims to cut 40 percent of its vehicles’ greenhouse-gas emissions by 2012. Carmakers within the European Union are starting to feel pressure to prepare for a time when their vehicles will need to slim down to meet tightened efficiency and emissions standards. The EU has a ruling on the table that could force the automotive companies to limit their fleet-average carbon dioxide emissions to less than 130 grams per kilometer by 2012, down from about 160 g/km now—on a timeline that could blindside many a less limber company. More to the point, it could deal a major blow to companies like Ferrari, whose elite customer base and niche markets don’t clamor for practical features like fuel efficiency in their ultra-sleek vanity vehicles.

The hybrid Ferrari would use “alternative energy sources,” based in part on technology developed for its Formula One program. The core of that technology, called a kinetic energy recovery system, or KERS, is a regenerative braking system that recycles power lost when a driver applies the brakes. The energy expended when a car brakes can be captured and stored, either by accelerating a rotor to spin a flywheel (basically a disc that is able to keep rotating until the energy is drawn out), or by loading it into a storage device, such as a battery or supercapacitor. That energy can be quickly released to improve acceleration. Not only does it provide race cars with extra zip, it also improves fuel efficiency and reduces emissions.