Efficient Supercars
Even supercar makers it seems are concerned about potential falls in sales if they don't become greener than they currently are. Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini are all investing lots of time and money into making more efficient cars in order not to lose favour with their customers. They also have a lot of work to do to meet strict new CO2 regulations being introduced in Europe in 2014 and the U.S. in 2016. Supercars are among the biggest culprits for bad fuel economy. The Lamborghini Murcielago for instance uses fuel about six times as quickly as a Smart Car!In 2010 Lamborghini committed to reducing their vehicles carbon dioxide emissions by 35% within 2 years. We'll soon see if they've managed to achieve this. They're working with a variety of fuel saving options such as hybrids, biofuels, and stop start technology. They're also reducing vehicle weight and developing their existing petrol engines into more fuel-efficient units. Lamborghini allocated around U.S$50 million in 2010 for 5 years development into more efficient cars.
Ferrari are also hard at work developing more economical cars. They've been testing a hybrid engine in their 599 coupe and hope to have a hybrid supercar for sale by 2015. Ferrari have currently allocated half of their total research budget to making their cars more environmentally friendly, which is an indication of the technological challenge it is to create fuel efficient performance cars.
Porsche will be selling economical hybrid cars from 2012, although it'll only be hybrid versions of the Cayenne SUV and Panamera sedan. They currently have no plans to make a hybrid version of their flagship sports car, the 911.
Interestingly, both Ferrari and Porsche have said they will not make electric cars because of the loss of engine noise and exhaust note. If electric supercars take off in the kind of way some people are predicting I'd be surprised if they don't go back on this, otherwise they'd be closing the door on a potentially large future segment of the market.
Its strange. Ten years ago I never thought we'd soon be discussing efficient supercars! Things are changing very quickly in the world of motoring which makes for an extremely exciting time.
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