With the 2014 Paris Auto Show coming to a close last week, yet another surprise emerged from the smoke and lights: a hybrid Lamborghini. Called the Asterion, this 910 horsepower, four-seat, grand-tourer follows in the footsteps of Ferraris, McLarens and Porsches alike, employing a hybrid electric system to power the wheels.
The Asterion will not make it into production, according to a Lamborghini press release, but rather displays the company’s embrace of the new oil-stricken automobile world.
It has often been a worry among car-lovers that the high-horsepower performance car will die out as the last of the world’s oil supply is depleted.
The year 2014, however, saw the introduction of all four aforementioned performance cars. Each vehicle, the McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari and the Porsche 918, uses a similar approach to eco-friendly performance.
The idea is fairly simple and can trace its roots back to the highest tier of open-wheel single-seat auto racing: Formula 1. Take a large capacity, hugely powerful internal combustion engine and boost its power with batteries and electric motors; this created a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle, or PHEV.
The benefits of this system are vast increases in acceleration and top speed. The instant torque production of the electric motors is used to “fill in the gaps” when the gasoline engine runs out of puff.
This differs from the conventional hybrid systems found in cars like the Toyota Prius, which uses the electric motors as much as possible with the gas engine adding power only when it needs to.
These new performance hybrids use their electric motors like a “boost” function from Mario Kart. Short, powerful bursts from small batteries means that even the most efficient of these cars, the Porsche 918, manages a range of only 13 miles in pure electric mode.
These cars then, the McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche and now Lamborghini, are using hybrid technology not for fuel economy, but for performance. And they deliver. The Ferrari LaFerrari, the fastest of the three, accelerates from 0 to 60 miles per hour in under three seconds and can hit 188 miles per hour in just 15 seconds, according to the Ferrari website, the latter falling just half-a-second short of a world record.
All three are receiving rave reviews from the media as well. In a recent episode of the British motoring program, Top Gear, presenter Jeremy Clarkson said of the McLaren P1, “It’s a game changer.” Hybrid performance technology is causing a stir in the motoring industry and people are taking notice. AutoCar Magazine raved, “[It’s] just a cracking good thing to climb into and go for a blast in.”
After driving the Porsche 918. With the success of these cars, it seems likely that more vehicles like them will follow suit.
That seems like a good thing. Cars get faster. Emissions get lower. Everyone is happy.
Of course the combination of gasoline engine and electric motor won’t be possible forever, as oil becomes more and more scarce.
But like this year, cars will evolve, new technology will be utilized to push mankind faster and faster in our pursuit of speed.
That’s why I like these cars. It’s good to know that cars will continue to get faster. It’s good to know that there will still be cars for kids to daydream about and hang up posters on their walls when the oil runs out.
The importance of these vehicles however, is not their mind-blowing performance, nor their bedroom-wall-pinup good looks. The importance of these machines is what they mean for the motoring world.
They are a testament to automotive engineering.
While companies like Toyota, Ford and Honda are using hybrid technology to increase fuel economy and reduce emissions, Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche and Lamborghini are using it to make their cars go faster.
Although this might seem counter-productive it does prove one thing: Performance cars will not die out as the world’s oil is depleted.
And if these cars are any indicators, we’ll all be going a lot faster on the roads of tomorrow.
Cal Thompson can be contacted at cthompson@keene-equinox.com
