Petrol prices are at an all time high in India. Even then, car sales are increasing and no one much cares about the home-developed electric car Reva. Recently, the Detroit Motor Show was concluded and we saw some of the most amazing and drool-worthy electric and hybrid cars. Chances are very less that, any of these cars would make it to the Indian market, but still, we thought it would be a nice deviation to look at some of the most fascinating electric and hybrid wheels displayed at the Detroit Auto Show 2011. Here are our top five pick from the show.Porsche showed off its hybrid supercar that borrows design cues from classic racers like the 908 and the 917. And the best part is the classic profiling that has been paired with cutting-edge modern hybrid technology. The car's carbon fiber-reinforced plastic monocoque shell is glorified with the starting number 22, which would remind you of the 1971 Le Mans victory of Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep.
The Porsche 918 RSR is an endurance racer at heart and has some very clever tricks to boast of and stay ahead of the competition. So each time you press the brakes, a flywheel accumulator located next to the driver's seat captures and stores energy. This energy can later be directed to the vehicle;s twin 102 hp electric motors to provide a burst of speed, allowing the vehicle to rocket ahead of other cars during critical overtaking maneuvers.
During the show, Porsche also announced its plans to introduce diesel and hybrid versions of the Panamera this year as well as a limited number of the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid super sports car.
Over the last few months, people have been talking about the upcoming electric vehicles from the German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz. But all these speculative imaginations were put to rest when Mercedes Benz unveiled the SLS AMG E-Cell prototype at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. This new supercar is equipped with four electric motors, and produces as much as 526 bhp and 649 lb-ft of torque. The stint of reaching from 0-100kmph in this supercar takes just four seconds flat. Mercedes Benz could not have chosen a more eye-catch colour for the car: yes it was a retina searing, yet pleasing, electric yellow.
The new SLS AMG E-Cell Electric Sports Car features a new instrument cluster with 9-inch LCD touch screen. And there are three large buttons that let the driver easily maneuver between Park, Drive, and Reverse with just a push.
There was one car that was quietly stealing the show from the rest was Ford's first all-electric passenger car, Ford Focus Electric. The model that was unveiled is a zero-emission, all-electric version of the company's most popular small car. The vital statistics of the car, such as fuel economy and driving range, have not been revealed yet. But it is said that the performance of the car would be comparable to that of Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf.
After displaying the Focus Electric at the Consumer Electronic Show and later at the Detroit Motor Show, Ford continued its hybrid-electric mania with two more electric vehicles, both eco-versions of the company's C-MAX, a five-passenger wagon. The two vehicles include the C-MAX Energi, which is nothing but a plug-in hybrid, much similar to the Chevy Volt, and the C-MAX hybrid, which will use the company's existing hybrid-electric powertrain that powers the Ford Fusion.
Ford has not revealed exact details of the car but the company says that the Energi can deliver a driving range of 500 miles and a better charge-sustaining fuel economy than the Chevy Volt. The hybrid model is targeted to return an excellent fuel economy that would be superior to the Ford's Fusion Hybrid, which gets 41mpg.
You have got to give it to the General Motor's EN-V car for being so weird yet sort of cool and attractive. It looks like the kind of vehicle that would be preferred by aliens or may be sea monsters. The car is almost half the length of a Smart car and weighs only 900lbs. Each model, Miao, Jiao, and Xiao, flaunts unique style and color, yet they all have the same two-seat cabins fitted onto a two-wheel base, co-designed by Segway. The GM EN-V cars are powered by a lithium-ion battery pack, and use gyroscopic sensors to balance the car's weight and detect the direction and angle of tilt.
