Ferrari To Show 599 Hybrid At Geneva, Production Model Planned

This has been rumored for quite a while, but it looks like the rumors are going to turn out to be true: Ferrari, makers of the finest high performance cars in the world will be showing a hybrid version of their 599 at the upcoming Geneva show. And that's not all, the word is that a production model is planned.

OK, so why should we believe it this time? Because the person saying it was none other than Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo, that's why. The announcement of the soon-to-be 599 Hybrid came at the roll out of Ferrari's new F10 Formula One car.

Technical details on the 599 Hybrid are scant at the moment, but if past rumors are any indication, it could be something like a road going version of the prancing horses KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) system from Grand Prix racing. The KERS system captured energy normally lost to braking and transferred it into a battery pack for later use, giving the car a burst of power at the press of a steering wheel mounted button.

In F1, Ferrari were obliged to use KERS derived power through the rear wheels only, but such competition driven restrictions will not apply to road going cars. Ferrari has been said in the past to be dabbling with using hybrid drives as part of an all wheel drive system, with the internal combustion engine powering the rear wheels, and the electric motors from the hybrid drive motivating the fronts.

From a number of standpoints (performance, handling, packaging) and all wheel drive hybrid system is the way to go. Not only would it give you added traction, but you could dial the system in as needed. By simply flicking a switch, you could go from a more economy minded hybrid set up, to a set up where the electric motors, and the power stored in the batteries, are there simply for better performance.

In that case, the hybrid system could be tuned to give the driver better acceleration out of corners, thanks to the added power of the electric motors, and better braking, thanks to the energy absorbed by the road going KERS system. And given Ferrari's success in bringing F1 technology to the streets, most recently with the amazing E-diff in the F430, this is going to be very interesting indeed.

Source: AutoBlogGreen