The supercar electrifies
Greta’s revolution is speeding the electrification of even 2020’s wildest cars
Ferrari’s SF90 Stradale and Lambo’s Sian
It’s telling that it takes real effort to recall the days – days not long past – when the idea of a performance hybrid was risible. Hybrids were a heavy, unexciting and complex experiment into whether or not diesel-like economy could be eked from a petrol-electric powertrain.
Then, very quickly, the hybrid got sexy. Sports car racing went hybrid in 2012. In 2013 the hybrid hypercars – McLaren P1, LaFerrari, Porsche 918 – went into production, their generation’s F40 and 959. And in 2014 Formula 1’s hysterical, naturally-aspirated scream was replaced with the muted machinations of a new generation of hybrid V6s.
In 2020 the performance hybrid goes almost mainstream. In part it’s because the technology has genuine advantages over an unassisted engine. Acceleration can be shattering. Throw in all-wheel drive, achieved via electric motors driving the front wheels, and that acceleration goes next-level: 2.5sec 0-62mph in the case of the Ferrari SF90.
Then there’s independent front-wheel control and the torque vectoring such a set-up makes possible. With the car now able to accelerate and brake individual front wheels, the compromise between agility and stability can be endlessly manipulated on the fly. Hybridisation also allows states of tune that would otherwise be off limits, because the e-motor(s) can help the engine through its weak midrange. And of course hybrids promise to reduce CO2 emissions and offer an EV-only range, so that your bellowing hypercar might silently glide through town.
That’s a compelling list of pros. But the big one is futureproofing. The world’s changing – fast. As attitudes shift, so too do regulations the world over. As Aston Martin’s Max Szwaj told CAR at the unveiling of its V6 hybrid Vanquish and Valhalla, hybridisation futureproofs the supercar.
‘This technology is maturing,’ said Szwaj. ‘It’s still expensive but you don’t need to spend huge amounts of money, and we need this technology to meet the emissions challenge. There is a lot of uncertainty. We must design something that will excite and also be socially responsible.’
For an idea of just how challenging these fast-moving goalposts are, just ask AMG CEO Tobias Moers. The One, Moers’ ambitious project to put his firm’s all-conquering F1 powertrain onto the road in a plug-in hybrid hypercar, is running late despite having Merc’s resources behind it. The project was very nearly killed off in early 2019, and almost certainly would have been had it not been hybrid. ‘Regulations got harder than we first expected,’ explains Moers. ‘We did a feasibility study but we were not aware that it was going to be this way.’
With forecasting all but impossible, pouring R&D spend into anything but a hybrid is a hell of a gamble. And so everyone’s wading in. In 2020 we’ll see the aforementioned AMG One, Ferrari’s SF90 Stradale and the Sian, Lamborghini’s limited-edition hybrid V12 .
We’ll also see McLaren Automotive’s new hybrid, as it finally moves beyond the same twin-turbo V8 that has, in various states of tune, so far powered every car it’s ever built. Like Aston, McLaren’s developing a turbocharged V6 hybrid powertrain, with the compact, very powerful engines set to come from its partnership with BMW. Ferrari, too, is working on a hybrid turbo V6 system, seduced by the low weight and compact dimensions of a V6 versus its current hybrid-ready V8.
The great unknown? Whether this new generation of hybrids can be made to feel like progress, and not just leave us feeling wistful.
NEED TO KNOW: FERRARI SF90 STRADALE
What is it? A new flagship Ferrari built around a new part-aluminium, part-carbon platform that mounts its V8 so low you can barely see it Tech specs That 769bhp turbo V8 plus three e-motors for 986bhp in total Rivals? Tricky – the Ferrari’s price is still TBC Why we’re excited Okay, no V12. But the SF90 still promises to eclipse the LaFerrari
NEED TO KNOW: LAMBORGHINI SIAN FKP37
What is it? Limited edition and sold out Tech specs 808bhp from the hybrid 6.5-litre V12, which uses supercapacitor technology instead of batteries Rivals? At £3m? Chiron Why we’re excited It’s a Lambo V12