| Saab's Hybrid Concept | ||
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(Wed 05 Mar 08) The Saab 9-X BioHybrid concept, which is making its world premiere at the Geneva Show, is an extraordinary mixture of high performance, excellent fuel economy, low CO2 emissions and futuristic styling.
At the heart of the matter is a turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol engine which produces a maximum of 170bhp on petrol alone and a phenomenal 200bhp on E85, the mixture of 85% bioethanol and 15% regular petrol. In addition to this engine, which operates through a six-speed manual gearbox with an electronic clutch, there's an electric motor whose power is stored in lithium-ion batteries. The body, which owes a lot to Saab's aircraft experience, is very aerodynamic, and actually changes shape at higher speeds. Above 43mph, a spoiler extends from above the rear window to lengthen the roofline, and a diffuser emerges from beneath the rear bumper. Under heavy braking from over 62mph, the spoiler rises to increase rear downforce, and at the same time reveals a reflector which makes the high-level brake light appear brighter to following drivers. For performance, you'd want to run on E85, since that gives the BioHybrid a top speed of 134mph and 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds; on petrol, the figures are 119mph and 8.3 seconds. Saab quotes much better combined economy on petrol (57.6mpg versus 44.1mpg on E85), but E85 wins out on CO2 emissions (105g/km compared with 117g/km on petrol), though that may be because the company is taking into account the assumed benefits from a fuel which is derived from plants which take their carbon from the atmosphere rather than underground. |
