Ecological power deluxe

The Porsche 918 Spyder drives frenzied activity into the gear of electric vehicle specialists such as Tesla Motors.



For too long hybrid cars had been reserved to manufacturers such as Toyota and Honda. German car manufacturers seemed to have been missing the trend. Now Porsche leaves all other cars in the dust with the 918 Spyder, currently the fastest hybrid vehicle in the world. Faster than most sports cars and more economical than any small car.



The elegant green ultra-fast car accelerates from a standstill to 100 km/h in just under 3.2 seconds, top speed of 320 km/h (198 mph) - without any emissions in the "E-drive"-mode because it is electrically driven. It can cover a distance of 25 km. If you want to jet through the city centre you should have 450,000 euros at hand. The new high-performance hybrids from Porsche illustrate one aspect, in spite of the utopian price: Even car producers who were quite hesitant to start with have got wind of the emission restrictions and specifications concerning low petrol consumption.



"In the innovative 918 Spyder concept study Porsche combines "intelligent performance" technology, motor sport high tech and also its classic modern shape language to a convincing statement."

The 8-cylinder engine with a cylinder capacity of 3.6 litres achieves 500 HP at max. 9,000 rpm. The rear drive works with a dual-clutch transmission with 7 gears. An electric motor between the engine and the transmission provides an additional torque. Electric motors on each of the two front wheels ensure 4-wheel drive. The three electric motors fed by lithium ion batteries with 5.1 kilowatt hours provide an additional 218 HP. According to simultaneous calculations made by Porsche the 918 Spyder is even a bit faster than the last super model, the Carrera GT. What remains to be said? Today ecological awareness is more elegant and somewhat more expensive than jute bags and batik shirts.



»»» www.porsche.com

Porsche GT3 R Hybrid

The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid has passed its most unusual task by now with flying colours in preparation for the Nürburgring 24 hour race on 15/16 May: AT&T Williams Formula 1 pilot Nico Hülkenberg tested the orange and white liveried racing 911 on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in the lead up to the third round of the VLN Long Distance Championship and was enthusiastic with many aspects: "Great car, fascinating technology and an incomparable track," concluded Hülkenberg.



»»» http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=en&v=dSvWXFsuNAk

First visible success

"Bosch increases speed for electromobility"

Bosch already has a programme for hybrid vehicles and electric drives. As first full hybrid vehicles with parallel technology of the Stuttgart-based company the new VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne have been launched. Bosch invests € 400 million per year in hybrid and electric vehicle technologies. At present the first series production of electric motors and powerful electronics is set up in Hildesheim and Reutlingen. The large series production of Li-ion batteries from the Samsung-Bosch joint venture, SB LiMotive, is scheduled to start in 2011.


Image source: Robert Bosch GmbH

Link (content only in German):
»»» http://www.bosch-kraftfahrzeugtechnik.de/~electrification

Excursion: Geneva Show 2010

Porsche 918 Spyder Concepts Hybrid

If you're a lover of high-end machinery designed for ultimate driving fun, three of your favoured marques could well be Ferrari, Porsche and Lotus. None of these three is a name you would immediately associate with the green-tinged motoring that our legislators would like to force upon us but, at the Geneva show, all three revealed cars designed specifically to tackle environmental sensibilities head-on.

»»» Source: www.classicdriver.com

Lotus Evora 414E