Supercars
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What do the Porsche 918 Spyder, Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and Toyota Prius all have in common? Apart from four wheels and an engine, not a lot, you might be thinking. But there's something else that connects the four--they're all hybrids. Specifically, the Porsche and its supercar cousins are plug-in hybrids, and with Porsche's offering just weeks away from its official worldwide launch at the Frankfurt Auto Show, we're seeing more and more pictures of the open-topped plug-in roadster (via Motor Authority). The pictures you see here are the latest to hit, all taken at the recent 2013...
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No Electric Cars In Ferrari's Future...But Hybrids? Certainly
The hybrid badge has been applied to plenty of cars over the years, but few are more dramatic than the Ferrari LaFerrari--the firm's next hypercar. The $1.34 million sold-out supercar hasn't even hit the streets yet, but as a statement of intent for hybrid technology it already speaks volumes--and...
Antony Ingram -
Acura NSX Hybrid Supercar To Make On-Track Debut At Mid-Ohio
Hybrid supercars are officially in fashion. We've been positively inundated by the things over the last year or so, from BMW's upcoming i8 plug-in hybrid, to the exotic Ferrari LaFerrari, Porsche 918 and McLaren P1 trio, to this: The Acura NSX. Like its historical namesake, it's the Acura destined...
Antony Ingram -
Jaguar C-X75 Hybrid Supercar Video: "Veyron Performance, Prius Emissions"
Not to be outdone by Ferrari, Porsche and McLaren, Jaguar and the Williams F1 team spent the last few years working behind the scenes on their own hybrid supercar, showing that going green could also be exciting. Originally planned with jet turbine range-extending engines, it was then downgraded to...
Antony Ingram -
New Nürburgring Lap Record For Electric Car Set By SLS AMG
The timing was nothing if not amusing. No sooner had Audi let us drive its R8 e-tron electric supercar and proudly boasted of its lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, then arch-rival Mercedes-Benz stole it from under Audi's nose with its SLS AMG Electric Drive. The striking yellow...
Antony Ingram -
Audi R8 e-tron: First Drive Of Audi's Electric Supercar
We'll start with the bad news: No, Audi definitely won't be producing any more examples of its R8 e-tron electric supercar. And even if it did, it'd be well beyond the reach of mere mortals--rumor has it that each of the ten e-trons currently in existence have set Audi back around $1.3 million. All...
Antony Ingram -
Good news: Audi's off-again, on-again electric supercar--the R8 e-tron--is now confirmed for production. Bad news: You won't be able to buy one, as the company has decided to make just ten vehicles, all for research purposes only. The company confirmed to Autocar that it has produced ten R8 e-tron models, but none will be offered to customers. Instead, the ten will be used for internal testing and development only. In a recent press release, the company stated, "Through the R8 e-tron, Audi has acquired extensive expertise that will benefit its electrified production models." Those production...
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Gumball Supercar Rally Now Carbon Neutral, But Hardly Green
If you've not heard of the Gumball 3000 before, it's fairly simple to explain. Blend hundreds of well-heeled supercar and sports car owners, a few thousand miles of roads, intersperse with fancy hotels and not-always-entirely-legal driving, and serve to the public. Given those ingredients, you'll...
Antony Ingram -
Porsche 918 Spyder Plug-In Hybrid: Even Faster (And Video Too)
Hybrids are hot property right now, but none more so than at the very top end of the market. Ferrari's unimaginatively-named LaFerrari, the McLaren P1 and the Porsche 918 will all utilize hybrid drivetrains, but it's the Porsche set to hit the market first. So imminent is the German firm's offering...
Antony Ingram -
Acura NSX Hybrid Supercar To Be Designed, Built Here In U.S.
The Honda NSX sports car is ingrained into Japanese car culture, but the latest model will be every bit as American as it is Japanese. Sold under the Acura brand in the U.S, Honda has now announced the new hybrid supercar will be produced at the company's Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio...
Antony Ingram -
Acura NSX Hybrid Supercar Pre-Order Books Open... In UK
For Honda and Acura fans it's been far too long since the companies made something truly exciting for driving enthusiasts. That should change when the new Acura NSX supercar arrives, following its debut fanfare at the Detroit Auto Show last year. Acura hasn't yet revealed a release date for the...
Antony Ingram -
The Mercedes-Benz SLS Electric Drive Is "Mega" (Video)
Most people probably think of electric cars as an environmental solution, if the concept is to be pigeonholed. While that's certainly the case, what many people don't know is that electric vehicles can also be a lot of fun. Nowhere is this demonstrated better than the video you see above, as a...
Antony Ingram -
The Ferrari 458 Spider is not a slow car. That sounds like a statement of the obvious, but when you see it left for dust by another vehicle, as in the video above, you might have wondered. The 4.5-liter, V-8-engined Ferrari has no answer for the Concept_One, the thousand-plus horsepower supercar from Croatian builder Rimac. Currently on a tour of the Middle East, the impromptu drag race was set up to demonstrate just how quickly electric cars can go. With an electric motor for each wheel and the combined hammer blows of 1,073 horsepower and 1,180 pounds-feet of torque, the 562-horsepower...
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Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive Supercar: First Drive Video
It was a Mercedes-Benz icon before it became a performance flagship. Now it's a messenger for the future: the gullwing's going electric. The SLS AMG Electric Drive electric car is closing in on series production, converting the octane-addicted supercar to fit a greener vision of the future. We've...
Martin Padgett -
VOLAR-e Electric Supercar: 1,000 HP McLaren-Beater
Okay, so perhaps "McLaren-beater" is a bit of an exaggeration. The recently-unveiled McLaren P1 plug-in hybrid supercar has the looks, the heritage, the quality and indeed a full production run on the way--while the VOLAR-e from Spanish industrial design firm Applus Idiada is just a prototype. But...
Antony Ingram -
McLaren P1 Hybrid Supercar: Production Version Revealed
No, seriously--it's a plug-in hybrid. It's not the most conventional of plug-in hybrids, of course. Unless we've missed something, Toyota's Prius Plug-In has no 903-horsepower version, nor does any Prius cost over a million dollars. But then, you can't expect something too conventional from...
Antony Ingram -
Latest McLaren P1 Supercar Adds Hybrid Technology To V-8 Engine
Not all cars are born equal. Some, if they're lucky, will be born as McLarens--supercars infused with technology from the race track, with one of the most famous names in motor sport. There are--believe it or not--parallels between the disparate worlds of green vehicles and hypercars, and not just...
Antony Ingram -
Audi R8 e-Tron Electric Car Back On Again: Report
As some manufacturers toy with bringing electric small cars and sedans to market, Audi is exploring the alternative side of electric propulsion with the R8 e-tron supercar. The project was put on hold back in October 2012, pending "a complete review of the program". Now, it appears that plans are...
Antony Ingram -
Once the perserve of the Japanese domestic market and the occasional videogame, the Nissan GT-R has subsequently become a performance icon. In its current iteration, it produces 545-horsepower from a 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6. 60 mph arrives in around three seconds and de-restricted it'll do almost 200 mph. And... err... it isn't very green... But the next model may change that to some degree, according to Motor Trend (via our sister site, Motor Authority). The next-generation car is rumored to use one of two different hybrid drivetrains, currently undergoing evaluation by Nissan's...
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More Details Emerge On Upcoming Audi Diesel-Hybrid Supercar
A few more details have leaked out on Audi's future diesel-hybrid supercar, which will transfer elements of its Le Mans-winning R18 diesel hybrid powertrain into a roadgoing car. Still in development and not even named, the unusual through-the-road hybrid would have a combined power output of at...
John Voelcker -
Jaguar's Hybrid C-X75 Hypercar Cancelled: Report
British luxury automaker Jaguar has cancelled plans to build a hybrid supercar, the company said today. The C-X75 plug-in hybrid supercar was originally set for launch in late 2013, following on from a concept car which used jet turbines as a range-extending powerplant. According to Autocar, those...
Antony Ingram -
Audi Planning Diesel Hybrid Supercar With Le Mans Tech
Audi is said to be interested in developing a diesel-electric hypercar to compete with upcoming rivals from McLaren, Porsche and Ferrari. The new model would sit above the current R8 supercar in Audi's range, giving the company a road-going platform on which to extol the virtues of its Le...
Antony Ingram -
2014 Acura NSX Hybrid Supercar: Will Debut January In Detroit
At the start of this year, at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, Honda’s luxury arm Acura wooed the crowds with the world premiere of its NSX hybrid supercar concept. At the time, Acura promised its new flagship car would be on the roads for 2015 and ran a Super Bowl ad so popular, it crashed...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Audi R8 e-Tron All-Electric Supercar On Hold: Report
One of the earlier all-electric concept cars from a major maker was the Audi R8 e-tron, first unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2009. Audi has consistently said it will build up to 1,000 of the battery-electric supercar and sell them--for a high price--to buyers who want a...
John Voelcker