Jaguar confirmed today that its outlandish, tech-laden C-X75 concept car will enter very limited, exclusive production as the world’s first 200 mph hybrid supercar.
First debuting last fall at the 2010 Paris Motor Show in concept car form, the C-X75 will likely receive some changes to become a production model. Still, Jaguar says that the production version will “stay true” to the original formula.
Jaguar says it will work closely with Williams F1, which will provide technical expertise. As a result, Jaguar says it will add 100 workers to its payroll.
The concept car’s turbine powertrain will give way to a more traditional hybrid setup, although Jaguar says that its parent company – India’s Tata – has taken a “significant” stake in Bladon Jets to develop micro-turbine technology as a “medium-term” aspiration. In other words, Jaguar is serious about turbine power for a future product.
Instead, the production C-X75 will use a small-capacity internal combustion engine that will work with four powerful electric motors mounted at each axle, thus providing the necessary all-wheel-drive traction and stability. EV-only range will top out at a reasonable 31 miles, but the real grunt will require the gas engine to kick over. Jaguar says to expect a sub-3 second 0-60 mph sprint before a 200 mph top speed.
Yet the C-X75 will be unlike any other supercar, Jaguar says, because it will deliver emissions of less than 99 g/km of CO2. That’s the kind of ambitious figure emitted by only the fuel thriftiest compact cars today, not 200 mph supercars.
As for availability, Jaguar hasn’t specified a date, but it did suggest that the car will cost in the range of £700,000 – £900,000 ($1.15 to $1.48 million in 2011 U.S. dollars). The automaker is planning to produce just 250 examples.
About the C-X75 Concept
There are concept cars and then there are ground breaking, mind blowing concept cars that take advanced technologies and find a way to apply them to practical creations. (The use of the word ‘practical’ when describing the C-X75 must be done with extreme caution).
For starters, the C-X75 can hardly be fit into any conventional description box, on one hand it can be considered an electric car, on another a hybrid, another yet a turbine-powered car. In reality, it is all three.
First off, to give a better understanding of how unique this concept car is, it has a top speed of 205 mph (330km/h) – unusually high for an electric motor-driven vehicle. But it isn’t simply configured for top speed, in fact, it also features all-wheel-drive and can blast from a dead stop to 100mph in an astonishing 5.5 seconds, a faster time than most sports cars boast when traveling to 60 mph.
Not done yet, this supercar is also capable of running in purely electric (zero tailpipe emissions) mode for 68 miles (109 km) on a six-hour domestic plug-in charge. When the initial charge runs out, then the wildly unique use of lightweight micro gas-turbines kick in to quickly and efficiently recharge the Lithium-ion batteries. All told, the C-X75 has a traditional passenger car and hybrid beating theoretical range of 560 miles (900km).
Tell me more about those…turbines?
Developed in partnership with Bladon, the Jaguar C-X75 features two micro gas-turbines, which spin at 80,000 rpm. The miniaturized turbine blade – the first viable axial-flow micro-turbine – increases the compression and efficiency of micro gas-turbines to the point at which they can be viewed as a realistic power source for automobiles. Each of the micro gas-turbines weighs 77 lbs and produces 94 brake horsepower (70kW) of power at a constant 80,000 rpm.
The energy created by the turbines is then stored in the batteries, and from there meets the road via four independent electric motors. According to Jaguar, using individual motors at each wheel actually has benefits in terms of weight-saving and distribution, packaging and efficiency. Each motor weighs just 110 lbs but produces 195 horsepower (145kW) of power and an pavement-shredding combined total torque output of 1,18 0lb-ft.
Because each wheel is driven by its own electric motor, the C-X75 is four-wheel drive, yet without the weight disadvantages of a purely mechanical traditional set-up. Obviously, with independent motors comes both the inherent challenge and ability to properly independently vector torque to each wheel across the full speed range. This offers potential benefits in terms of stability and control, creating an infinitely and instantaneously adjustable traction and stability control system.
While many automakers – such as Lamborghini and BMW – have turned to carbon fiber for weight savings, Jaguar opted for the use of aluminum to give its supercar rigidity without weighing it down. To add to the green image, about 50 percent of the metal comes from recycled sources, too.
All told, this car weighs in at just 2,970 lbs. – an incredibly light weight given its four-wheel drive capability.
Step inside the beast
With as much innovation and creativity as Jaguar packed into the drivetrain of the car, one might think they would be out of ideas by the time it came down to minding the simple details such as the interior design. Not so, says Jaguar.
For starters, a new interface for the driver has also been created for the C-X75 using high-resolution TFT screens, including the Jaguar Co-Pilot display in the center console which supports the driver in extracting the full potential of the C-X75 by seamlessly managing information.
The main driver information screen is housed within the instrument binnacle. Needles float on the periphery of the twin cowls and sweep round the outer edge to display the status and rpm of the two turbines. The design team combined designs from instrumentation in the new XJ saloon with those from fighter aircraft to create virtual 3D ‘gimbals’ around which the gauges wrap and rotate to provide status updates.
When it comes to keeping your hind-end plastered where it need be when utilizing all of the power the C-X75 has to offer, Jaguar confirms that the seats are attached to the bulkhead – just like a single-seater racing car, allowing air to feed the turbines by passing smoothly around them via channels in the structure of the body.
Video proof
A video released by Jaguar following the car’s London debut in December shows exactly how much work and the attention to detail necessary for setting up high-dollar cars inside of showrooms that don’t exactly have traditional entry options.
The video starts off showing the work required for the removal of an all-new XJ sedan from the showroom in order to make room for the C-X75. Once the concept car is in the showroom, the video switches to slow motion so you can fully enjoy the lines of the car.
The cold hard facts
(4) Electric motors good for 195 horsepower each, 780 total
(2) Switched reluctance generators
(2) 94 horsepower gas micro-turbines for range-extending capability
Battery type: Lithium-ion
Battery capacity: 19.6 kWh
Single speed transmission with a 3.1:1 final drive ratio
The performance cold hard facts
Zero-to-100 km/h in 3.4 seconds, zero-to-100 mph in 5.5 seconds
Top speed of 205 mph, or 330 km/h
Zero to top speed in just 15.7 seconds
Completes a quarter mile in 10.3 seconds at 251 km/h
Max power of 780 horsepower and 1,180 lb-ft of torque
Aerodynamic signature rating of .32 (cd)
The green cold hard facts
Initial pure-electric range (via plug-in charge) of 68 miles, 109 km
Overall extended range via micro gas-turbines of 560 miles, 900 km
C02 emissions of just 28 grams per kilometer, or 46 grams per mile
50 percent of metal is recycled aluminum
Total weight 2,970 lbs
