Its petrol engine, a V8, is connected to the rear wheels via a seven-speed automated gearbox.
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This is to provide the driver with the familiar sensations he would expect from a petrol engine.
ECONOMIST: Fast cars will go even faster with electric power
It combines a petrol engine with an electric motor which charges its batteries.
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Adapted specifically for the hybrid powertrain, the all-new 2.5 litre, DOHC, 4-cylinder petrol engine benefits from several technical improvements.
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That went towards building a petrol engine for its new Auris model and was credited with safeguarding nearly 200 jobs at the plant.
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It had a petrol engine producing 12 horsepower (8.9kW) not much more than each of the four 6kW electric motors on Mr Piccard's Solar Impulse.
This Lexus Hybrid Drive powertrain features an all-new, ultra-smooth running, 2.5 litre 4-cylinder petrol engine mated to a compact, high-output, water-cooled permanent magnet electric motor.
ENGADGET: Lexus LF-CC Concept shows the future of touchscreen interiors
Given a free hand in the design, his team developed a continuously variable transmission system that allows the petrol engine and electric motor to work separately or in tandem.
The fast-ignition technique is more like a petrol engine: first the fuel is compressed and only then is it ignited by a second laser pulse acting as a spark plug that is fired through a hole in the pellet.
What matters for all-electric vehicles as opposed to hybrids, such as the Chevrolet Volt, due in 2010, which can fall back on a petrol engine when the battery runs out are their limited range and the time taken to recharge their batteries.
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In addition to the petrol engine and electric motor, the LF-CC hybrid drive system further comprises a generator, a high-performance battery, a power split device which, via planetary reduction gears, combines and re-allocates power from the engine, electric motor and generator according to operational requirements, and a compact power control unit to govern the high speed interaction of the system components.
ENGADGET: Lexus LF-CC Concept shows the future of touchscreen interiors
The Volt will have a small petrol-engine generator to recharge its batteries on trips of more than 65km.
"When you look to the German car manufacturers now, they are fighting against each other with the biggest statement, with more horse power, and these days a diesel engine car is as powerful as a petrol car, " Saab Europe's Claude Makowski told BBC News Online.
Most Brazilian cars can run on a mixture of ethanol and petrol, thanks in part to the flex-fuel engine, developed in the country.
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