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Ferrari Unveils World's Fastest (and Most Expensive) Hybrid
Hugh Pickens writes writes "Fred Meier reports that Ferrari has unveiled its fastest car ever, a nearly 1000 hp. gas-electric hybrid dubbed LaFerrari that does 0-62 mph in less than 3 seconds, 0-124 in less than 7 seconds, 0-186 mph in 15 seconds. "We chose to call this model LaFerrari," says Ferrari's President, Luca di Montezemolo, "because it is the maximum expression of what defines our company – excellence. ...Aimed at our collectors, this is a truly extraordinary car which encompasses advanced solutions that, in the future, will find their way onto the rest of the range." LaFerrari is the company's first hybrid and has a system that incorporates technology developed for the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One race car's KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) setup. In LaFerrari, the hybrid (HY-KERS) version uses a 6.26-liter, non-turbo, V-12 gas engine rated at 800 hp coupled with a 163 hp. electric motor for a combined rating of 963 hp. A second, separate electric motor drives the power accessories."
I know this site has an international audience, but did anyone really think that this thing ran on some non-specific, presumably flammable "gas"? In the US, "gas" is the most common way to refer to gasoline/petrol. We would call a CNG vehicle a "natural gas" car, and propane or hydrogen would be referred to as just propane or hydrogen.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Can't wait until I pull onto a freeway with one of these, driven by an idiot, suddenly is spotted in my rear view mirror fish-tailing and spinning towards me as the driver attempts to slow down and miss me. It'll be the experience of a lifetime. Of course I may not see this for the rest of my life.
If you do see it, it's likely to be for the rest of your life.
Massively overpowered cars don't fishtail and spin anymore - at least they don't need to unless the owners choose to turn off the electronics. In the last 5 years, I've watched the motorcycle magazines shift from being very leery of fly-by-wire (or even fuel injection, 10 years ago), to dismissing aging models based mainly on the inferiority or lack of traction control, wheelie control, ABS, and dynamic throttle response. Now real-time suspension tuning is the big thing. Ferrari is obviously deep into F1 where the allowable degree of automation is a matter of constant debate and rule changes every year, so their street cars probably have more electronic control than their race cars do.
..nuff said.
1000 hp of Postage Stamp, disappearing under a dustsheet in some collectors exclusive lockup garage near you soon.
Can't wait until I pull onto a freeway with one of these, driven by an idiot
So you claim to be an idiot then?
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
We should also make clear that this is an automobile. The term "car" is ambiguous and may give rise to the misconception that this vehicle must be pushed or pulled, perhaps in series, by a locomotive.
Additionally, the term "hp" as used in the story refers to "horsepower", not "hit points". This is not to imply that 1000hp means that the automobile will be pushed or pulled by one thousand actual horses; merely that the power is roughly comparable.
If you can imagine the resources necessary to stable and feed one thousand horses, this is an incredible engineering feat indeed! Not to suggest that engineering alone was responsible for the construction of this automobile -- indeed, one can imagine mathematics, robotics, welding, and any number of other disciplines were involved in harmony. But likely not music theory, regardless of the ambiguous term "harmony" I employed mere seconds ago.
Odd that neither linked story tells us what kind of gas mileage to expect. I'd hate to buy one of these and then find out I can't afford to drive it.
Cheers,
Dave
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
...was not a hybrid Ferrari going past.
Name: Mr. Anon E Mouse; SSN: 555-55-5555
Uhhh...you expect grammar nazis to care about logic? Really? You must be new here.
As for TFA frankly ALL hybrids might as well be toys for the rich because if you remove all the government subsidies? The math just doesn't work. The problem is we haven't had a real breakthrough in battery tech in years and the lithium batteries just don't make economic sense. From the tests I've seen depending on where you live and whether you own a climate controlled garage (because of differences in temps affecting battery life) you are looking at 5-7 years on the battery. Now from what I read the batteries in something like the Leaf or Prius cost around $20,000 to replace yet thanks to government subsidies these cars only cost $24k-$39k depending on feature set so already you have a car that is gonna be practically worthless on the used car market (because the battery costs more than the used car is worth)
Unfortunately, you seem to be reading "studies" put out by FUD-spewing shills. Most of the "facts" in your analysis are simply incorrect.
(A) "the lithium batteries just don't make economic sense": the Prius and Honda hybrids use NiMH batteries, not Lithium tech (which is coming into use in newer vehicles, e.g. Tesla and Chevy Volt); focusing on Lithium while bashing the Prius shows your ignorance of the subject.
(B) "you are looking at 5-7 years on the battery," "practically worthless on the used car market": the Prius was introduced in Japan in 1997, and on the world market in 2000. They aren't dropping dead on the road --- real life longevity/reliability is quite high, with a decade and a half of data to back it up. Feel free to check actual used car prices to see whether a Prius is "practically worthless."
(C) "...batteries in something like the Leaf or Prius cost around $20,000 to replace yet thanks to government subsidies these cars only cost $24k-$39k": many ridiculous (and intentionally deceptive) estimates of "OMG huge gov subsidies" are floating around with no basis in fact. They are usually based on highly faulty economics, e.g. dividing (Gov. subsidy for building big new factory)/(# of batteries produced per year) to produce "scary" numbers, while ignoring that the factory will continue producing batteries for decades. Actual Prius battery replacement from Toyota is ~$4k, and might need to be done (if ever) after ~300,000 miles.