Hot News: Jaguar C-X75 Gets Green Light

It will be real: Jaguar has decided to put the C-X75 supercar, first shown as a concept at last year's Paris auto show, into production. It will be a joint project with Williams F1, and exactly 250 units will be produced. The announcement was made at a press conference in London, and the build run will start in late 2013 and last through late 2015.

Jaguar describes the car as the "fastest and the most efficient supercar on the market." When asked whether this includes the forthcoming Porsche 918, group engineering director Bob Joyce bluntly replied, "Yes." And he added this about the Porsche: "25 kilometers [16 miles] of electric range is good for the [fuel-economy test] cycle, but you are effectively driving with the internal combustion engine all the time." With this car, Jaguar envisions fuel economy of more than 55 mpg—although it didn’t specify if that figure is really mpge—with a pure-electric range of around 30 miles

More important for a hypercar, Jag says the car will hit 60 mph in less than three seconds, can achieve 100 mph in less than six, and won’t run into its speed limiter until passing 200 mph. There will be three driver-selectable modes of operation: all-electric, a hybrid mode called Dual, and a full-power Track setting. To refill the batteries, it will have typical regeneration abilities, as well as plug-in recharging capability.

The two-seater’s styling will stay very close to that of the Paris concept, and it will feature all-wheel drive with a small-displacement four-cylinder turbo engine and an "extremely powerful" electric motor at each axle. The power ratio between electric motors and internal-combustion engine is going to be 1:1. This Jaguar won't mark the return of the turbine car, as the micro-turbine technology used for range extension in the show vehicle won’t be ready for production in time. But the company "remains committed to the micro-turbine technology," says brand director Adrian Hallmark. In the long run, Jaguar intends to bring the tech to market in its series-production vehicles, although we’ll believe it when we see them in our office parking lot.

Weight is kept down with a sophisticated carbon-fiber chassis, and ceramic brakes are included. The body likely will have aluminum panels and a carbon-fiber roof.

Thanks to: Car and Driver