October 4, 2010 report
Jaguar’s new electric concept supercar -- the C-X75
An electric motor on each wheel delivers 145 kW from a single floor-mounted lithium ion battery pack that gives the car a range of up to 110 km on electric power alone. When the battery runs down it can be recharged in six hours from a normal household mains outlet.
The Jaguar C-X75 (named for Jaguar’s 75th anniversary) has another option that other electric cars do not offer, which is a boost by two 70 kW micro gas turbines running on a choice of natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, diesel or biofuels, mixed with air. The micro gas turbines spin at 80,000 rpm and can power the electric motors directly (increasing the power) or can be used to recharge the battery (increasing the range).
The micro gas turbines are extremely small and relatively cheap to manufacture. They can run at a fixed, most efficient RPM to recharge the batteries, and provide high performance and efficiency but with low emissions and low maintenance costs. Despite being a type of jet engine, the micro gas turbines are said to be low noise and produce no vibration.
The Jaguar C-X75, which was unveiled last week at the 2010 Paris motor show, is at the concept stage and may never be produced, but even if it is never marketed, elements of the design could find their way into future Jaguar cars.
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