Recent Advances

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP - PARIS, OCTOBER 2008

Citroën today became the first manufacturer competing in the World Rally Championship to announce a hybrid drive WRC competitor. The C4 WRC HyMotion4 adds an electric kinetic energy recovery system to the C4 WRC. A 125kW electric motor generator is geared to the rear axle of the all-wheel-drive rally car while a lithium ion battery pack sits on top of the fuel tank. The motor-generator reduces brake wear and fade by providing regenerative braking capability. When the driver needs bursts of extra power for passing, a button provides instant electric boost. The driver can also enable an electric-only drive mode for use on road sections, particularly in urban or residential areas where noise is a concern. Citroën claims a increased range of up to 25 miles with the hybrid racer and reduced fuel consumption of 30 percent on road stages where the electric drive is used. Because rally cars run under so many different types of conditions all the different operating modes are driver selectable. Citroën hasn't given any hint yet of when or if they will try to run the hybrid WRC car in actual competition.

NURBURGRING 24 HOUR - RACENEUBERG, MAY 2008

The guys behind the Gumpert Apollo supercar hope to prove that "green" and "performance" aren’t mutually exclusive when they line up at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring endurance race in a hybrid producing 800 horsepower.

It will compete alongside gasoline-powered cars from the likes of Porsche, Audi and BMW on one of the most famous tracks in motor racing, and it opens another front in the campaign to make auto racing more environmentally responsible. The Indy Racing League runs 100 percent ethanol and Formula 1 teams must use kinetic energy recovery systems beginning next year, and German boutique automaker Gumpert wants to see more gas-electric drivetrains on the grid.

"Motorsports cannot ignore the necessity to save energy," says former F1 driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who with Dirk Müller will drive the Apollo. "I see a chance that our sport will go back to the forefront of technical development, making cars outside the race track more energy efficient."

These guys know what they’re doing. Roland Gumpert was the head of Audi Sport when the automaker scored two World Rally Championship driver’s and constructor’s championships. Frentzen raced scored three wins during his F1 career and is ranked 59th among the "100 Greatest Racing Drivers Ever" in this month’s issue of F1 Racing magazine. Müller has raced in F3 and the American Le Mans series.

Gumpert worked with Lithium Technology Corp. to develop the hybrid drivetrain, which mates a 3.3-liter V8 twin-turbo engine to a 100-kilowatt electric motor to produce the equivalent of 800 horsepower. The motor uses a 9-kilowatt hour lithium ion battery comprised of 90 high-power 27 amphere hour cells connected in series. It weighs about 420 pounds and provides a full-electric range of 31 miles. The battery will be fully charged before the race and the car will use regenerative braking to keep it charged. Company CEO Klaus Brandt says motorsports is the perfect place to test its technology.

"LTC believes that racing plays a significant role in pioneering the use of new technologies, such as lithium ion batteries, and offers the opportunity for us to demonstrate the performance of our batteries under extreme conditions," he says.

This isn’t the first time a hybrid has gone endurance racing. The Toyota Supra HV-R handily won Japan’s Tokachi 24-hour endurance race last year. But the 24 Hours of Nurburgring is more famous, having started in 1970 as a low-cost alternative to the 1000 KM of Nurburgring, and will expose the technology to a wider audience.

TOKASHI 24 HOUR RACE - TOKYO, JULY 2007

Toyota Supra HV-R: Hybrid Car Wins 24-Hour Race

The hybrid car movement has just been given a massive PR boost after Toyota won the Tokashi 24-Hour race in Japan. With a hybrid racecar.

Augmented by two 'in-wheel' electric motors and a third axle-mounted electric motor, the modified hybrid race car won the famous Japanese race. Called the Supra HV-R, it marks a milestone in Japanese motorsport and heralds the hybrid as a force to be reckoned with.

Peugeot and Audi proved that diesel technology could work in their Le Mans race cars, having since won multiple races, and now the same can be said for Toyota's hybrid technology.

The Denso Toyota Supra HV-R is a lightweight race car, weighing just 1080kg. With it's four motors (one petrol, three electric) it produces 353 kilowatts (480hp).

Toyota has an ambitious plan to develop a high performance sports car for road use in the next three years, and as the Supra HV-R proved itself over 24-hours of non-stop driving, and under high stress, it suggests that Toyota is well on the way to developing high performance hybrid systems.

The 2010 Supra is perhaps closer than we think?

In 2006 Toyota celebrated it's first hybrid motor sports milestone when it was the first car manufacturer to enter a hybrid car into the Tokashi 24-Hour race. Though the Lexus GS450h (reviewed here) came 17th, it's now clear that Toyota's plans to accelerate its hybrid development program are bearing fruit.

Toyota's press release states "...by entering hybrid systems into racing events, Toyota engineers hope to discover ways to make hybrid systems, most famously fitted to the Toyota Prius production car, more efficient and lighter. In only the second year of competition Toyota used – with success – the data gained from last year's race in order to develop a new, special racing unit to the limits of hybrid performance."