I have been concerned for a while that when I could finally afford a supercar there would be no more being made as the recession, and more importantly, emission regulations would kill them all off. Even the awesome Bugatti Veyron will stop being built next year as they sell the last of the 250 cars they committed to building. So apart from Lamborghini and Ferrari struggling through I would not be expecting a large car manufacturer to attempt to enter the market. But Jaguar thinks it has the answer, a green supercar. Surely a contradiction in terms?
Jaguar’s C-X75 might be just a concept at this stage but its potential is enormous and shows a direction that I expect many other manufacturers to adopt. The idea is that it is a milk float, sorry electric car, but like the GM Volt it relies on extender technology that allows the car to be charged by an on board motor. The Volt makes do with a standard 1.4 four cylinder engine, Audi is about to launch their new A1 with e-Tron technology and that will be charged by a 250cc rotary engine (much more efficient apparently). Jaguar has gone to the next level and selected twin jet turbine engines. Similar to the concept of our Type-22 naval frigates which are powered by Concorde Rolls Royce engines. Built by Blandon Jets in Worcestershire each one pumps out 95 bhp and provides enough energy to keep the lithium-ion batteries charged up.
The car could technically do 0–186 Mph in 15.7 seconds, that’s over a second faster than a Bugatti. That might not sound like much but is pretty impressive for a car managing 30 mpg and 150 g/Km of emissions with both turbines running – zero if they aren’t. Speed of course is not the only part of any supercar, it is about the experience, but with the wine of the turbines and looks to match I am sure it will have real soul.
So the future isn’t as bleak as I might have feared. I can only hope that it will be ready to buy when I might be in the market for one…
But will it sound like a super-car 🙂 ? There’s just nothing like the growling hum of a powerful engine that thunders its way into life each morning as you gently twist the key into its ignition (says I, owner of a Merc.. *cough*.. Smart Roadster lol). Also 0–186 Mph in 15.7 seconds sounds amazing but at that speed your problem comes from putting all that power down and into the road; not to mention driving control. Bugatti’s tires are hard to beat, but it is also four wheel drive.
Still, I hope they do make that Jag, just so long as it uses some proper wiring and fuses.. basic stuff really. The electrics in most Jags’ I’ve seen seem to be their biggest problem area.
I think you are absolutely right Mark. Apparently even today the latest XJ has been plauged with electrical problems, not such a problem in that car but could be a bit more serious when we are talking about much more electricity!
I also agree that when it comes to it the Bugatti is pretty special so will probably still be the king.
I love the Smart Roadster – I seriously looked at one a few years back the Brabus version but then got an MX-5 instead!
I’ve had an MX5 too :), before the Smart, classic Miata mk1 special edition and installed my own enhanced turbo (I know very little about engines but the MX5 mk1 was so.. easy to mod) and some other stuff. Lovely car to drive, truly, but sadly you could literally see the fuel gauge go down in realtime when using kickdown lol.
I had a MK2.5 which was a limited edition (like they all are) and then moved on a year later to a MK3 then a MK3 with the folding hard top. All were great just missed a bit of extra power…