Ferrari patents for an all-wheel drive hybrid

Ferrari four-wheel-drive hybrid patent 1-images here and below

We’ve known for awhile that Ferrari was working on a hybrid sportscar, so it’s not much of a surprise to see these patents for a new four-wheel-drive vehicle with hybrid propulsion filed by Ferrari back in February. The Italian automaker’s documents suggest that this particular design is intended to “improve the drivability of a sports car in conditions of poor grip,” not necessarily to improve the vehicle’s overall environmental friendliness.

Ferrari reports four possible ways it could present its hybrid technology and shows the design with six individual diagrams, which you can see below. In each of these possible designs, one set of wheels would be powered by the car’s internal combustion engine through a locking differential, while the other set of wheels would be driven by either a single electric motor or by two smaller in-wheel electric motors.

Ferrari thinks a system such as this could provide the advantages of all-wheel drive while keeping the weight low and allowing the driver to pick standard rear-wheel drive when desirable. Of course, depending on the on-board batteries used in such a system, the car could potentially be powered completely on electricity under certain conditions, reducing fuel consumption and lowering overall emissions.

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