The green 599 that is on at the Geneva International Motor Show is technically a concept. The hybrid powertrain is called-somewhat amusingly-HY-KERS. The ‘HY’ stands for hybrid and ‘KERS’ refers to the Kinetic Energy Recovery System Ferrari used during the 2009 Formula One racing season and was dropped because it was deemed too expensive, troublesome and not effective enough. Ferrari says that the F1 authorities will be reviewing the role of KERS in future seasons and that it is recovering its development costs by fitting it to the road car. The KERS is used to recover the braking and decelerating energy in a state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery.
The electrical energy is converted into about 650 volts, which gives an additional 100 hp that is used to supplement the acceleration of the six-liter V12 petrol engine and also run the engine’s air conditioning and power-steering pumps.
It was reported that Chairman Luca di Montezemolo (who is also Chairman of Fiat Motors, majority owner of Ferrari) aims to apply the hybrid system displayed in the 599 HY-KERS show car to all of Ferrari’s production models.
“To see a green Ferrari is something unusual,” he admitted.
But Mr. di Montezemolo was at pains to reassure Ferrari buffs that the carmaker has not gone all tree-huggy.
“It’s not a bourgeois Ferrari,” he said in an interview.
“This is a first step of a long project,” he said, “and we want within three years-maximum four-to have a hybrid Ferrari car ready for every single product of our range. In three years, we aim to cut emissions by a minimum of 35 percent.”
Mr. di Montezemolo recalled how outraged some Ferrari aficionados were in the 1970s when the company introduced automatic gearboxes. Now virtually all new Ferraris are automatics. They are not ordinary automatics, but rather gearboxes actuated by paddles next to the steering wheel like a Formula One racer.
Mr. di Montezemolo’s point: hybrid Ferraris will also be true to the Ferrari legacy.
Emissions, in fact, have much to do with the Prancing Horse’s push for hybrid vehicles. By 2015, European automakers’ fleets will have to emit an average of 130 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer or better. The equivalent target for small-volume manufacturers like Ferrari hasn’t been announced yet. In the U.S., all cars are required to meet the minimum fuel consumption rate of 35 miles per gallon(mpg) by 2020. Currently, the most fuel efficient car produced by Ferrari, the new 458 Italia emits 307 grams of CO2 per kilometer, and delivers 11 mpg in the city and 15 mpg on highways. Ferrari engineers all agree on the fact that hybridization is the only possible answer to meet the new emission standards set both in the U.S. and Europe. Any failure to follow the set of rules would force Ferrari to pay hefty fines or even worse, stop manufacturing cars all together.
Supercar manufacturers are addressing this in different ways. Lamborghini feels it can survive by building lighter cars made with more carbon fiber and smaller engines, while Ferrari-along with Porsche-is taking the hybrid approach. The HY-KERS system shown in Geneva allows the 599 to run solely on electricity during the EU urban cycle, but during longer runs-or if the driver should stomp on the accelerator pedal-the V12 comes to life.
Ferrari says the 599 HY-KERS cuts emmissions by 35 percent-right where the company is aiming to be when 2012 comes.
Ferrari also unveiled a start/stop system for its California model. This systems goal is to save fuel by switching the engine off at road junctions and traffic lights and reducing pollution in the process.
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Source: telegraph.co.uk, rumors.automobilemag.com, wheels.blogs.nytimes.com, nitrobahn.com, allcarselectric.com
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