As some of you may have heard, it set a world record for the fastest time going in a straight line for 400 meters. I was wondering why the hybrid is so fast. And why is it faster than the normal gas powered one? I thought Hybrid cars were suppose to be slow.
There is nothing inherently slow about hybrids. In fact, hybridization is how performance is added to cars with limited engine power. The Honda Dualnote concept car, introduced in Tokyo ten years ago, is rated at 400 hp and calculated 42 mpg. The Toyota Volta concept car is rated at 408 hp and 0-60 in 4 seconds, but it only gets 30 mpg. Both cars use small 6 cylinder engines and are multi-passenger cars
Horsepower ratings are more misleading on non-hybrid vehicles. A 400 hp gas engine would be hard pressed to put out more than about 50 off the line, but the electric side of hybrids can put out essentially full power off the line. Honda engineers said of the Dualnote that it has off the line acceleration similar to a 600 hp conventional car of the same weight.
Because it has lots of power. On top of the gas powered motor, it has additional hp from the electric motor.
The speed of the hybrid car depends on who designed it and what it was designed for. For example, the Toyota Prius or Honda Civic or Insight Hybrids were not meant to be sports cars. They were supposed to attract buyers who wanted an easy to drive practical car.
The Infiniti has a very powerful gas engine and a powerful electric motor.