With stricter imposition on emission norms and rising development of EVs, hybrid powertrains are gaining traction all over the automotive world. While hybrid powertrains in mass cars are generally tuned to deliver more efficiency, in some cases hybrids can be used to extract some more oomph from the power plant.
This is what many supercar brands have tried to emulate in recent times. Be it Lamborghini, Aston Martin, or Porsche, sports car brands are now trying to go green but not in a similar way as regular hybrids do. Even Mercedes-Benz is bringing out new hybrid powertrains for its full fledged AMG cars that are tuned to deliver higher performance.
Performance from hybrids
The hybrids in performance cars do not make much of a difference to fuel efficiency of the cars. In fact, most of the strong and plug-in hybrid supercars offer pure electric driving range of a few kilometres only. For instance, the Lamborghini Revuelto runs on a 6.5-litre V12 naturally aspirated petrol engine paired with a plug-in hybrid system comprising three electric motors and a 3.8kWh lithium-ion battery pack.
The V12 in itself dishes out 813 bhp at 9,250 rpm and a peak torque of 725 Nm at 6,750 rpm, whereas in combination with the electric motors, this powertrain cranks out a huge 1,001 bhp. However, when running on full electric power, the Revuelto can only return a peak range of 10 km. Similarly, the newly introduced Aston Martin Valhalla can run only 9 km in pure electric mode.
How do hybrids in supercars work?
The question arises, how are these supercars able to extract more power from these hybrid units? Every carmaker has its own process. For example, Lamborghini uses three electric motors on Revuelto, two in the front axle driving each wheel, and the third on the rear axle.
The rear motor also doubles up as the starter motor and generator and supplies energy to the front electric motors via the battery, thus offering all-wheel drive capabilities. The gearbox is mounted behind the V12 engine transversely to the 3.8kWh battery pack, housed within the central ‘transmission’ tunnel, tuned to offer more power than range.
On the other hand, the 3.6-litre boxer engine in the updated Porsche 911 Carrera GTS uses a different setup altogether. The fossil-fueled engine in the new 911 works in tandem with an electric motor which drives the turbocharger. This electric motor also functions as a generator and can develop up to 11 kW using the exhaust gas stream of the turbocharger.
We would avoid diving deeper into technicalities of the hybrid setup since it may create confusion for our readers. However, one thing common with these hybrid powertrains of supercars mentioned above is that the electric motor(s) is/are attached to a mechanical automatic gearbox mounted in between the front and rear axle.Â
This is a very distinct construction as compared to the regular strong hybrids offered in cars like Honda City e:HEV, Maruti Grand Vitara, and Toyota HyRyder, where the motor acts as an electric CVT gearbox, instead of using a traditional automatic gearbox. Although the hybrid setup in supercars may not enhance fuel efficiency, the brands claim to bring down emission levels with these hybrid powertrains, which cannot be verified at our ends.
