The supercar maker famous for its red livery is going green. But while Ferrari is looking at improving both fuel efficiency and performance with new engine technology, it's more reluctant to take the petrol-electric route, writes Jez Spinks.
The Italian supercar maker famous for its powerful V12 engines says it may be forced to introduce petrol-electric hybrids to meet ever stricter emissions laws.
Ferrari has this year started development work on its next-generation engines due from 2013, and the company says it is experimenting with a number of technological solutions to make its sports cars cleaner and greener than today's model range.
Those potential solutions include a return to turbocharged engines - for the first time since the 1987 F40 - as well as electric power.
During last week's opening of Ferrari's new high-tech vehicle assembly line in Maranello, Italy, the company's technical director for GT cars, Roberto Fedeli, said building petrol-electric supercars may be necessary even though it's not convinced the technology is appropriate for Ferraris.
"In terms of ecology and CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions," says Fedeli, "are we sure that the only way to approach this kind of issue is to build a [hybrid] car according to the regulations [fuel consumption and emissions test cycle]? I don't know."
"For road cars, [petrol-]electric engines are important for approaching the [emissions test] regulations in a good [clever] way. If driving a car in the [test cycle], you can have a very big gain with this [hybrid] technology.
"It is a philosophical approach [that Ferrari takes to building cars]," he says. "[But] from a practical approach we have to meet the emissions regulations.
"Perhaps in the future the [hybrid] technology could be a good solution [to ensure Ferrari meets the emissions targets]."
The European Union has proposed financial penalties from 2012 for car makers who do not reduce their model fleet's average carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to 130 grams per kilometre or lower.
Ferrari is targeting a 40 per cent reduction in fuel consumption and emissions for its cars by 2012, although it's coming from a high base.
Ferrari's current average CO2 figure of 433g/km for its range of five models is well short of that target, though the Italian car maker says it's uncertain whether it will be included under the umbrella of owner and small-car builder Fiat should the new regulations be approved.
The EU's proposal states that car makers would be allowed to form a pool to help meet emissions targets, while production numbers would also be taken into account. (Ferrari built a relatively tiny 6465 cars in 2007.)
Ferrari argues that current emissions testing favours hybrid cars more than its supercars because it is biased towards city driving where it claims supercars are seldom used.
In 2007 the European Union introduced the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) that evaluates vehicle fuel consumption and emissions in a two-part test.
The first, 'urban cycle' test aims to mimic rush-hour traffic of European cities like Paris and Rome with a series of starts and stops that never exceed 50km/h; the second, 'extra urban' test features a faster single sequence of acceleration and deceleration though speeds never exceed 120km/h.
"If you drive outside the regulation cycle [NEDC test], the gain you can have today [with hybrids] is not so high," says Fedeli. "[The NEDC tests] cover only a few kinds of usage of a car. Driving on the highway, for instance, is not covered in the regulation.
"For our kind of cars, it's up to our customers to decide whether the city cycle [result for their Ferrari] is important or not. Our statistics [reveal] our customers drive in the city for a very small time." The urban cycle fuel consumption figures for Ferraris are significantly higher than in the extra urban test that the company says is closer to being more relevant to the typical usage of its supercars. Continued…
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