While draped in sheetmetal and fit for fashionable Paris, Jaguar's newest concept is actually most interesting for what's inside—an electric hybrid system with turbine-powered backup generators.

The C-X75 is a plug-in hybrid with four in-wheel electric motors. Make that four, 195 hp, motors that combine to vault the C-X75 to 60 mph in just three seconds. Once the battery is charged, the car can theoretically travel—it's a concept and not a prototype—roughly 70 miles. To extend the range without having to stop and wait for the batteries to charge, a pair of small gas turbine engines can supply 180 horsepower. While the car's battery-depleted performance won't be nearly as strong, at least it can travel an additional 500 miles or so before a fill-up.

The intrigue here is the sewer-piped sized turbine motors that are mounted behind the two front seats. They're roughly two-feet long with a coffee can diameter. These "micro" turbines as they are called are made by a company called Bladon Jets in England and they're custom made for backup power generator.

Auto makers are investigating several alternatives to piston-powered backup generators to alleviate the range anxiety associated with EVs. Current piston, gas-fired engines are relatively efficient on a thermodynamic scale, but wildly inefficient on a weight per power basis. "Each micro turbine on the C-X75," says Dr Anthony Harper, Jaguar's head of Research and Advanced Engineering, "weighs just 80 pounds, including the generator. A piston engine that produces similar power would weigh five times as much."

Harper conceded that the turbine engine is "about 20 percent" efficient with its fuel as compared to the low 30s for a piston gas engine. But in the case of a plug-in hybrid, less weight takes precedence because the lighter the car, the longer it can travel on just the batteries. The engine is only meant for occasional use, so the benefits of fewer pounds are more often realized. To increase the efficiency, the turbine engines are presently tuned to run at a constant 80,000 rpm. And Harper noted that the turbines can burn a variety of fuels,—kerosene, diesel, ethanol—without major changes.

Presently, the micro-turbine powertrain is still very much in the testing phase. Harper explained that the engines create a lot of noise and heat that must be managed. But he thinks there's promise in the design and barring a major setback, we could see a micro-turbine powered plug-in hybrid sometime in the next five years. changes.

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