Eco-Friendly Ferrari Mille Chili Concept
It seems like the green bug is infecting carmakers of every type and sort. The latest to be bitten is one of the most unlikely candidates, Ferrari. Recently, the Italian sports car and racing company showed off its FXX Mille Chili eco-friendly concept car at a conference, and spoke of the many technologies which it is developing for the future. Not surprisingly, weight is one of the areas in which Ferrari can improve; by reducing it, Ferrari would not only reduce consumption but would also enable the car to perform better. The name Mille Chili means 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lbs) in Italian, the car’s projected weight.
To get an idea about how serious Ferrari is about shaving weight, it’s essentially reinvented some key areas of automotive design. Instead of using additional spoilers, the car would feature active aerodynamics, jets that alter the airflow of the car, aiding in acceleration and braking. Instead of having an adjustable seat, the Mille Chili would possess an adjustable cockpit, where the seats and dashboard would shift to the right position for the driver. Ferrari says that the system would not only save weight, but also reduce the height and profile of the canopy, improving aerodynamics (and with it fuel consumption at one end and top speed at the other).
The Mille Chili also possesses a new type of hybrid drivetrain in a configuration we’ve never seen before. Where as most hybrid vehicles can be used to power a car, or assist it during acceleration, or under heavier loads, Ferrari’s version is attached directly to the transmission and is designed only to operate when the gearbox is changing gears. This would ensure that a constant supply of torque and power is present during the cog swapping, enabling the car to continue to build speed even when the throttle on the gasoline engine is cut. Because the electric portion would only be used at times during gearshifts, the size and weight of the battery pack could be substantially reduced, though the electric motor is said to be as powerful as 60 kW (by comparison, a Camry Hybrid makes 105 kW). There is no time frame established for the production of this device, although according to Ferrari this gearbox and electric motor combination could be ushered into production as early as 2012.
As an aside, the vehicle that was shown at the introduction was merely supposed to give attendees what the car might look like and to show how small a super-performance Ferrari could be. Unlike most Ferraris, which are composed of steel or aluminum, this one’s made out of wood and cardboard. The car looks like a hybrid between the Enzo supercar and the FXX test-bed. If you look closely at the wheels, their surfaces are flat and two-dimensional. Overall, it’s about three feet shorter than the Enzo, and due to the weight-saving components, is projected to weigh about 300 kg (600 lbs) less. We wouldn’t be surprised if, like on the current FXX test-bed race car, Ferrari invited current FXX or high-ranking owners to test the vehicles and receive feedback during its development.