It’s getting hot. Or green, if you will. Many high performance EV or hybrids are making appearances at car shows now.
Audi have shown 2 e-tron electric vehicles (an expensive one and a less expensive one), and each of them seem close to manufacture:
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/audi-e-tron-an-electric-supercar-concept/ (Like an R8); and
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/detroit-auto-show-audis-second-electric-e-tron/ (Like a TT).
The Porsche 918 hybrid concept seems pretty green (as in not ready, not as in energy efficient):
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/01/porsche-918-spyder-plug-in-hybrid-concept-gets-78-mpg-hits-62-m/,
but this GT3 hybrid seems ready to roll:
http://www.roadandtrack.com/auto-shows/geneva/porsche-911-gt3-r-hybrid.
Fisker have shown their body (adds credibility):
Lotus have shown an Evora hybrid:
http://www.evo.co.uk/news/evonews/248770/official_lotus_evora_hybrid.html.
Ferrari have shown a hybrid 599:
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/02/sneak-peek-ferrari-hybrid/
Quick – how long did it take you to figure out why that Ferrari is painted green? I’ve never seen a Ferrari debut in any other color than rosso corsa. It took me about 30 seconds, I’m embarrassed to admit.
There are others too, but these are ones that have caught my eye. I’ll follow up with a post about a patent that seems to relate to the technology in the Porsche GT3 hybrid.
Matt