Why don't luxury makers sell sporty hybrid/alternative fuel cars?

Question

I care about the economy and want to stop using fossil fueled cars. but I also like s**y sporty cars.

when are the luxury and sport car companies (porsches, benzes, bentleys, lexus, range rovers, astons, ferraris, lambos, even mustangs, etc etc) going to convert their engines??

Answer 1

Going Green is all the rage

Answer 2

Hi there,

They do.  Lexus has a number hybrid flavors of their sporty lines.  See http://www.lexus.com/hybriddrive/ the GS450h has a V6 but gets from 0-60 in 5.2.  The MPG isn't "great" but is comparably better than others in its class.  Plus its pretty sweet looking.

BMW is said to be working on a hybrid x-3, the smaller SUV in the class with Ford's Escape.

Volvo is working on quite a few different hybrid concepts as well as a plug in hybrid, they recently invested 1.36 billion in their hybrid campaign.

Answer 3

They are way to expensive to be practical, even for luxury.

Answer 4

They will all produce CO2.

Answer 5

In the recent Frankfurt 2007 event, major automakers revealed that the trend is alternative fuel engines.

http://www.autoneato.com/

Answer 6

When rich people stop buying them because of the rarity of gas. I hate this, they buy speed over fuel efficiency. At least it's not like an SUV!

Answer 7

The Tesla is an example of a high performance electric sports car.  Unfortunately it is not competative.

It cost approximately $100,000, which is $30,000 more than gasoline powered sports cars that out perform it.

It takes 8 hours to recharge, while a Corvette Z06 can be refuelled in about 5 minutes.

For the $30,000 difference you can buy 10,000 gallons of gasoline at current prices.  This will power the Z06 for at least 150,000 miles.

Given all of this, the choice is obvious, I will buy the Corvette.

Answer 8

They do. The Tesla electric car for example.

Answer 9

I guess you missed this one:

http://www.lexus.com/models/LSh/

0-60 mph in 5.5 s ...not too shabby.

Toyota/Lexus probably has the greatest momentum.  Honda's hybrid Accord outperformed all the conventional Accords in power and acceleration, but the market just wasn't there and it is discontinued for this year.  The demand is so low that many manufacturer's can't justify their hybrid programs.

Lexus has two other models:

a smaller but even faster sedan (0-60 5.2s)

http://www.lexus.com/models/GSh/

and an SUV (0-60 7.3s)

BTW, except for the LS, the hybrids are faster than their conventional counterparts.  The regular LS has a 5.4s 0-60 time vs the hybrid's 5.5s.

Your choice of manufacturers may not be there, but I think you have the luxury/sportiness in spades if you truly want the hybrid.

Edit: Doh...JL beat me to the punch...

OK.  Another consideration is this: diesel.  Moving to biodiesel compatible engines or diesel hybrids hold even MORE promise than gasoline hybrids as far as decreasing dependence on fossil fuels.  Mercedes, Audi, and BMW have been churning out high performance diesels for decades.  Here's a hybrid diesel that BMW is mulling over:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/bmw-contempl...

Answer 10

If you want an expensive sports car that minimizes fossil fuel consumption, go for an electric car like the Tesla Roadster or ZAP-X:

http://www.teslamotors.com/

http://www.zapworld.com/electric-vehicle...

0 to 60 in under 5 seconds - that sporty enough for ya?