Ferrari Hybrid Due in 2013

Fiat SpA's Ferrari unit will debut its first production hybrid supercar next year in a model that will succeed its top-end Enzo sports car.

CEO Amedeo Felisa tells Automotive News Europe the two-seater's powertrain will incorporate a version of the kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) used in the company's Formula One race car. The technology stores energy in a battery during braking and returns it to the drivetrain through an electric motor during acceleration.

The energy stored in an F1 KERS can be summoned at the push of a button by the driver. It isn't clear how the production version, dubbed HY-KERS, will work. Felisa claims the system will improve fuel efficiency by about 40% and can knock 3 seconds off a zero-to-200 kph acceleration run.

The HY-KERS weighs about 120 kg (265 lbs), according to Felisa. He tells ANE that Ferrari will offset some of that weight penalty by lightening the car's chassis and powertrain. Energy captured by the system will be stored in lithium-ion batteries constructed by Ferrari's F1 racing unit from cells supplied by South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Ferrari showed its first hybrid concept, the 599 GTB Fiorano, at the Geneva auto show two years ago. That car's powertrain included the standard 599's V-12 gasoline engine, a 100-hp electric motor, a lithium-ion battery and KERS technology.

At the time, Ferrari announced it planned to offer a hybrid-electric option for all its models by 2014.