The Hypercar Blueprint
How did four automakers with legendary racing pedigrees all arrive at the same formula for the next-generation hypercar?
In Biology 101, the wings of bats and birds and the eyes of humans and squid often are used as examples of convergent evolution -- essentially, when organisms arrive at the same result via different developmental paths. In the realm of hypercars—those rarefied vehicles that exist in the plane above mere supercars -- we are at a particularly interesting point of convergence. By 2015, hypercars from Acura, Ferrari, McLaren, and Porsche should be roaming the roads and racetracks of this world, redefining what we consider fast and efficient. These vehicles will do so using a very similar formula: a gas/electric hybrid powertrain mid-mounted in a chassis composed of exotic materials, driving the wheels through a dual-clutch transmission. How did we all converge upon this point in time?
2014 Porsche 918 Spyder
The decision to build an ultra-high-performing, plug-in hybrid concept for the 2010 Geneva show was made just six months before the doors opened at the Palexpo. It would be the first hybrid supercar to be displayed to the public, and it would not be a science-fiction fantasy. So a team of 40 engineers in Germany and 20 fabricators in Italy sharpened their pencils, developed a ration-al design that leveraged racing experience with kinetic-energy recovery systems (KERS), and made it happen. In July of that year, the board of management gave the gas/electric hybrid all-wheel-drive 918 Spyder the green light for production, with the seemingly disparate goals of achieving 3.0-liter/100 km (78 mpg) fuel consumption and a quicker Nürburgring lap time than any previous Porsche supercar had achieved. The strategic point of the exercise was to develop the skills, hardware, and software Porsche's engineers will need to achieve future CO2 and fuel economy compliance without compromising performance.
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