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Jaguar C-X75: The Hybrid Supercar We’d All Love To Own Some Day

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Jaguar is no stranger to designing innovative and powerful concept cars. Many of these prototypes go on to become production vehicles. One model that got everyone talking was the Jaguar C-X75.

 

It first got unveiled back at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. Jaguar says the car started life as a design concept and reached the prototype stage in just two years. That is quite impressive given the styling of the car. And also the unique way this hybrid monster works!

 

The Jaguar C-X75 is a sports car that we’d all love to own some day. But the sad news is that the project got shelved. The reason? Jaguar Land Rover stated few people would buy it at this moment in time “as a result of the global economic climate.”

Image via Flickr

 

I suspect the price of the car had something to do with Jaguar’s decision to pull the plug on the C-X75 supercar project. Would you pay between £800k to £1 million for a hybrid supercar during today’s austere times? Nope, me neither!

 

Sadly that means you aren’t likely to see the C-X75 as one of the H.A. Fox Jaguars on display at their showroom. Still, that doesn’t you and I from wanting to get behind the wheel of one some day (after winning the lottery, of course)!

So, what is it that makes this unique car a serious contender for supercars like the Porsche 918 Spyder? And various Ferraris and Lamborghinis?

 

The Jaguar C-X75: an eco-friendly supercar?

 

The four-wheel drive Jaguar C-X75 supercar is quite a unique hybrid vehicle. It boasts a ridiculous 850 brake horsepower and 1,000 Nm of torque! But what is it that produces such a monstrous amount of power?

 

According to Jaguar, the car uses four electric motors – one to power each of the four wheels. The batteries these electric motors are all connected to get charged from two micro gas turbine engines. Yes, that’s right: gas turbine!

 

Bladon Jets in Worcestershire built the turbines. On an all-electric range, the car can only do 70 miles. The Jaguar C-X75 boasts a combined range of 560 miles. In fuel economy terms, that equates to just under 30 miles per gallon.

 

The Jaguar C-X75 also has a Formula One race-inspired 1.6-litre twin-charged diesel engine. This four-cylinder engine alone produces 502 brake horsepower. The rest of the power gets generated by the electric motors.

 

Because the car only weighs 1,350 kilograms, it can reach 60 miles per hour from a standing start in just over three seconds.

 

It’s also an eco-friendly supercar. With carbon emissions of just 89 grams per kilometre, it would be exempt from car tax in the UK. Now if that’s not a reason to convince your spouse that you want to buy a supercar, I don’t know what is!

 

Setting out blueprints for future supercars

 

At the time, Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar’s Global Brand Director, had this to say:

 

“[The Jaguar C-X75] represents the pinnacle of Jaguar’s engineering and design expertise.”


He also went on to say how it’s likely the car will be used as the basis for future Jaguar supercar projects.

Ford

Ford lays out plan with Electric Cars

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Wow, desperate times call for desperate measures. The main story on FOXnews.com today is
about how Ford Motor Co. CEO, Alan Mulally, says he’ll work for $1 per year if Ford takes any government loan money. The plan Ford is presenting to Congress this week also says it will cancel all management employees’ 2009 bonuses and will not pay any merit increases for its North American salaried employees next year. Mulally said in an interview Tuesday that Ford will emphasize its cost cutting efforts with the United Auto Workers union and will give much more detail to Congress than it did during a visit earlier this month. The company also will accelerate plans to roll out electric cars as part of the plan it will present to Congress this week.

Source: FOXNews.com

I also have the Ford Business Plan here, the one submitted to the Senate Banking Committee. I found the parts that involved their plans to implement hybrid and fully electric cars into their fleet and posted it below. Stuff I left out is mostly a bunch of puff about how they will build better quality cars, why they are in trouble, and how sorry they are.  Their electric car plans remain quite vague and they insist they need a technological breakthrough in battery technology to implement them on a wide scale. They “cannot work alone.”

Ford Business Plan: Electrification Strategy Excerpt

Sustainability and Electrification Strategy
Ford’s sustainability plan will achieve continuous and substantial improvement in fuel economy and a corresponding reductionin CO2 through affordable technology in high volume. Ford’s plan is to make affordable fuel efficiency available to millions of consumers. They also plan to build smaller cars, and only touch on their commitment to continue ethanol and biofuels once.

Our three-phased approach with near-term, medium-term and long-term advanced technologies and products  begins now with advanced internal combustion engine and transmission technologies, such as our EcoBoost engines going into production on several vehicles in 2009. The next major step in
Ford’s plan is to increase over time the volume of electrified vehicles, as battery costs improve
and as the transition from Hybrids to Plug-in Hybrids to Battery Electric Vehicles occurs.

Next month at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, we will
discuss in detail Ford’s accelerated vehicle electrification plan, which includes bringing
to market by 2012 a family of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles. Our
work will include partnering with battery and powertrain systems suppliers to deliver a
full battery electric vehicle (BEV) in a van-type vehicle for commercial fleet use in 2010
and a BEV sedan in 2011. We will develop these vehicles in a manner that enables us
to reduce costs and ultimately makes battery electric powered vehicles more affordable
for consumers.

Our plan also includes building on our competence in hybrid vehicles, as
demonstrated by the industry-leading fuel economy of the Ford Escape and Ford Fusion
hybrids. We are now developing our next generation full hybrid technology, which
includes plug-in capability, for vehicles in 2012 and beyond. We are targeting a
substantial increase in hybrid volume through a greater than 30% reduction in cost,
installation of hybrid capability in global platforms and hybrid vehicles that are uniquely
styled.

Ford’s three-phased approach to sustainability provides immediate and significant improvements on a wide scale and accelerated electrification, including next generation hybrids and all-electric
vehicles.

We cannot, however, accomplish significant electrification by ourselves. The
2007 Energy Independence and Security Act requires American-developed breakthroughs in high-power energy batteries (e.g. lithium ion). In order to make significant progress in electrification, Ford supports establishing a U.S. public/private partnership to accelerate the development of this capability, including supporting infrastructure, within the United States.

Ford supports a public/private partnership to develop next generation battery technology

(Ford will) Continue to develop and deploy hybrids while reducing cost for expanded market applications. Ford was the first U.S. company to introduce a hybrid with the introduction of the Ford Escape Hybrid in 2004 and the Escape and Mariner Hybrids remain the fuel-economy leaders among all sport utilities. Full HEV nameplate offerings and volume will double in 2009 with introduction of Ford
Fusion and Mercury Milan Hybrids, which best the Toyota Camry hybrid by at least six mpg.

Achieve annual fuel savings of 2.5 billion gallons by 2012 model year and 3.1 billion gallons by 2015 model year from new fuel efficient vehicle.

-Hybrids-

What is a hybrid electric vehicle?

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I’m in Los Angeles this week and I was astounded at the number of Prius hybrid electric cars on the road. It is easily the most popular model in California and it is officially Toyota’s top seller in the United States. While this site is mainly dedicated to fully electric powered vehicles, I thought I’d dedicate a section to the hybrid movement we are seeing on the American roads today. I don’t think they are the end all solution to the energy crisis, but you have to walk before you can run, and America is walking finally. Some people might be confused about how, exactly, these cars work and I thought I’d clarify them a little.

Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV)

Toyota Prius

HEVs, such as the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius have become hugely popular in the United States for their fuel economy and unlimited range. These cars are technically known as parallel electric hybrids because they utilize two sources of power at the same time, and electric motor and internal combustion engine.  This means both power sources can be utilized at the same time to give the car easier, faster acceleration, like the K1 Attack, which goes 0-60 in 3 seconds when utilizing both power sources. OR as parallel hybrids are more conventionally used in the Prius, the electric motor is utilized while the combustion engine is completely off at speeds 0-40 mph because it provides more responsive torque and no gas whatsoever. In an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, most gas is consumed from 0-40 during acceleration, so parallel hybrids get better gas mileage in the city. The internal combustion engine is used at speeds above 40 mph because it provides a higher top speed, and requires less gas than normal because it doesn’t need as much torque or gas at consistent highway speeds. The internal combustion engine can also drive the car at low speeds when the battery is low. This doesn’t happen often, because when the vehicle brakes, the kinetic energy is captured by letting the wheels turn the alternator which powers the battery, this is known as regenerative braking.

Serial Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV)

Chevy Volt

As of now, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are not yet produced. The Chevy Volt concept is a serial hybrid electric vehicle. These cars rely purely on an electric motor to power the wheels. The Volt will potentially get 40 miles on a charge (hence, PHEV-40), then for any driving after that, a combustion engine will kick in, not to power the wheels, but to act as a generator that recharges the battery. The Volt likely has such a low ev range because GM did not want to sacrifice performance for electric power. PHEV’s can utilize regenerative braking just like HEV’s. Thus, you get the near unlimited driving range from the established gasoline infrastructure for long trips, but you can potentially go weeks without ever having to utilize the combustion engine for your daily commute.

Electric cars are potentially superior to all of these because they do not utilize antiquated internal combustion engines at all. The parts and fluids used to manage an internal combustion engine is staggering compared to the lightweight, energy efficient electric motor. The criticism of the electric car is the idea that batteries have not yet developed enough. But because of their wide range of applications, battery technologies are advancing at a swift pace; while ICE technology has been at a relative standstill for decades. And when companies such as GM say the technology is not there, you need to keep in mind that exact same company came out with a completely viable electric car in the late 90’s, the EV1, using lead acid batteries, before lithium-ion, before the potential revolutionary EEstor. But hey, thanks to the popularity of hybrids we are now walking in the right direction.