The first hybrid to enter the gruelling Nurburgring 24 hour race crossed the line on electric power alone.Although the Gumpert Apollo supercar finished outside the top 150 teams, more than 200,000 spectators were at the 'Ring to watch the proceedings.
The plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) Apollo is made by Gumpert Sportwagenmanufaktur GmbH of Germany.
This version was powered by li-ion batteries from Lithium Technology Corporation (LTC).
The team is owned by Mr. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, ex-Formula One (F1) racer and champion, and was piloted by Dirk Muller and Frentzen himself.
The hybrid Apollo used a 3.3 litre V8 bi-turbo petrol mill with a 100kW electric motor.
LTC's 9kWh pack included an advanced battery management system (BMS) that transmitted battery performance data via satellite for monitoring and enhanced performance control of the technical team.
Mr. Muller commented, "I'm proud to have been a driver for this innovative and forward-thinking project.
"I was fascinated at how simple and trouble-free it was to handle the hybrid system."
LTC is involved with several PHEV projects and previously introduced its own Toyota Prius with retrofitted GAIA Lithium Iron Phosphate cells in 2007।
via:images.newcarnet
