Guilt-Free Swank: Our Halo Is Green

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Reporters of Reuters, roaming the floors of the doom-dominated Paris Auto Show, finally found a feel-good trend: Green supercars, or make that guilt-free kickass swank, targeted at cash-positive crisis-sated, climate-conscious consumers .

416,500 euro: The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Coupe Electric Drive. At 552 kW and a top speed of 250 km/h, probably the fastest and most powerful production electric car on the road. Range: 155 miles, probably not at Autobahn speed. In very limited production sometime in 2013.

Well above 100,000 euro: BMW’s i8 plug-in hybrid, first shown as a styling concept at the 2009 Frankfurt show and ever since. 96kW electric motor one the front axle and a 164kW turbocharged three-cylinder gasoline engine at the rear, “enough to propel the car from 0-100km/h in less than five seconds, while returning a frugal 2.7 litres per 100 kilometres.”At dealers or other motor shows in 2014 or thereabouts.

Above 100,000 euro: A wagon-like plug-in hybrid called the Panamera Sport Turismo. Uses a more advanced version of the electric motor and gasoline engine that power the current Panamera Hybrid, and can be driven in pure electric mode at speeds up to 130 km/h. Fuel consumption is less than 3.5 litres per 100 km, while CO2 emissions are less than 82 g/km. Tentatively slated for production around 2015.

More than 660,000 euros, but AWOL: The “New Enzo,” a green Ferrari. The much anticipated hybrid is said to have a massive 600kW 12-cylinder engine mated with a 90kW electric motor, and might blow the Veyron away. But it didn’t make the Paris show.


Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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 2 comments
  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
  • EBFlex The best gift would have been a huge bonfire of all the fak mustangs in inventory and shutting down the factory that makes them.Heck, nobody would even have to risk life and limb starting the fire, just park em close together and wait for the super environmentally friendly EV fire to commence.
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