Ferrari Details New Hybrid V12 For Future Flagship
Ferrari’s next flagship will have *gasp* a hybrid system mated to its usual V12/7-speed dual clutch gearbox.
The system, known as HY-KERS, will have two electric motors in place. A front mounted motor controls the ancillary systems like power steering, air-conditioning and other power-sapping devices. A rear-mounted motor helps add some juice to the already potent gasoline powered V12.
Regenerative braking will help power the lithium-ion battery pack mounted low in the car, behind the center line. A dual clutch gearbox will help put the power to the ground, and the electric motor should provide instant torque and sub-3 second sprints to 60 mph. The combined 800 horsepower from the 7.0L V12 as well as the electric motor should add up to over 900 horsepower – and an absurd price tag.
More by Derek Kreindler
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Cool. Then those fleeced, can use the low end torque of the electric motor to avoid ever having to rev to the point in the powerband where the $100,000 V12 is designed to perform and sound it's best. All courtesy of a dula clutch wonderbox that knows when you really ought to be shifting as you glide from parking vallet to parking vallet in your rolling sculpture. We really need to get rid of speed limits, so that supercar builders get some genuinely practical goals to focus on again. Back when Enzo was (supposedly reluctantly) building street cars, at least his overpriced concoctions were meaningfully faster from Paris to Monte than some hopped up Nissan (or Datsun).
Oh good. Now Ferrari will have high voltage batteries. Why burn when you can fry?
At some level Ferrari understands that they can never build a V-Anything with the instant torque of an electric motor. I have been expecting something like a super Fisker from them, but mating the electrics to a V-12 doesn't make any sense at all.
Meh. Might as well, if they're going to stick pushbutton transmissions in everything they sell. The instant torque seems a good match to the tech-enhanced, driver-detached on-road experience that supercars are trending towards.