Ferrari boss confirms hybrid program

Posted on Sunday 6 July 2008


Governments around the world are bowing to public pressure to reduce greenhouse gases, and more often than not the first sector they look at is the auto industry. The European Council has proposed a ruling that could see carmaker’s forced to limit their fleet average CO2 levels to 130g/km by as early as 2012, something that could have disastrous effects for niche players like Ferrari.

The supercar company is now working on cutting its vehicles’ greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half and is working on several different strategies including building lighter cars and implementing new hybrid technology. Speaking with Germany’s Welt am Sonntag, Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo told reporters the carmaker is aiming to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% between now and 2012.

“We are currently working on the development of a Ferrari that will use alternative energy sources and which will be based on what we are doing at the moment in Formula 1,” he revealed, referring to the new Kinetic Energy Recycling System (KERS) that works on the principle of brake-energy-regeneration. The KERS is basically an efficient CVT gearbox joined to a flywheel that rotates when the cars undergo braking. The stored energy can then be used to boost acceleration for overtaking and cornering.

Montezemolo insisted that any future hybrid Ferrari would still be “fundamentally a Ferrari”. However, the first models aren’t expected to be available for sale until around 2015.

In a further effort to reduce emissions, future Ferraris could also come powered by smaller and more fuel-efficient turbocharged V6 engines. A company spokesman revealed last week that Ferrari has ruled out nothing in terms of technology as it works to keep high-performance a priority while accommodating strict emissions rules.