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World's Fastest Hybrid OK'd For Production
thecarchik writes "The Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid supercar, first shown as a concept at this spring's Geneva Motor Show, got official approval as a production model today from the company's board of directors. Just consider the specs: a 500-horsepower, 3.6-liter V-8 engine with a 9200-rpm redline, 0-to-62-mph acceleration of 3.2 seconds, and top speed of 198 miles per hour. Oh, and did we mention it gets 78 miles per gallon on the European cycle? The astounding fuel efficiency comes courtesy of an E-Drive mode that lets the 918 Spyder drive up to 16 miles on pure electric power, though [ahem] not at 198 mph."
78 miles per gallon is about 3 liter for 100 km.
198 miles = 319 kilometers
Europe is on the metric system. 62miles is about 100km.
Sorry, but different Poreche. the hybrid is a 918 spyder, your linking to a Boxster spyder. Basically the Boxster has a 320hp flat 6 while the hybrid 918 has a 500hp V8 plus 2 109hp electric motors. Also it looks to be 4 times more expensive then the Tesla at about $650,000!
http://nexus404.com/Blog/2010/07/29/porsche-918-spyder-goes-to-production-kind-of-confirmed-back-in-march-the-green-light-on-the-porsche-918-spyder-is-now-officially-on/
I'm an engineer...and a race car driver. You can decide if that qualifies me to answer.
Electric motors can produce torque at all RPMs, so you don't have to mess around with complex gearing to keep the engine in the "power band."
Sure, if you wanted to burn rubber, an electric motor would be happy to comply, but if you want a car that is easy to control, you only supply as much torque as the tires can handle (even ICE-powered cars do this). You don't want super-wide tires, because you increase rolling resistance, making the car less efficient. Tire contact patches are optimized for traction and resistance (and then the owner screws that up because he thinks 22" wheels on a sub-compact looks "gnarly!").
I need trepanation like I need a hole in the head.
As for Tesla? Screw 'em. We're paying them (government subsidy??) to develop a car they will sell us back at a ridiculous price.
It's a loan you twat, not a subsidy
http://www.google.com/search?q=doe+loans+electric+vehicles
Hell, Nissan got $1.4 billion+, Fisker got around $500 million, GM got $14.4 billion and Chrysler got $8.5 billion. You know who has a solid, proven drivetrain and energy management system? Tesla. There should be some sort of test before you're allowed to post here.