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New UK Hybrid Sports Car Partnership
13 December 2006
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| Westfield’s flagship 2000S. |
A new partnership between Westfield Sportscars Ltd. based in Kingswinford, West Midlands, and the University of Warwick’s Warwick Manufacturing Group will explore the potential for hybrid versions of Westfield’s sports car products. This move builds upon an initial Westfield commitment to develop Euro-4 emissions compliant version of its Duratec-powered vehicles.
Malcolm Fendick, Head of Clean Fuels and Technology for the UK’s Department for Transport announced the partnership at a special conference on hybrid vehicle technology—Hybrid Vehicle Conference 2006—at the University of Warwick (UK) today.
Some people consider that hybrids are a “bridge technology” until something better comes along. However, all evidence points to the fact that it’ll be some years until any technology is mature enough to totally replace the internal combustion engine, and hybrid technology will still be vital.
With Westfield we will be looking at both improvements in performance and environmental impact. Our in-house developed tools allow us to rapidly assess a wide range of scenarios to establish the best compromises, and understand the business case that these options present to the company.
—Adrian Vinsome, University of Warwick
Westfield is a producer of specialty sports cars, both as kit cars and in the factory. The company has sold more than 8,500 cars since its founding in 1983 and currently produces more than 400 cars a year for driving enthusiasts. In January 2006, Westfield was acquired by Potenza Sports Cars.
The conference is looking at hybrid development from the perspectives of all of the stakeholders—technical, commercial and political. It is hoped that by bringing everyone together in this way, companies, customers and Government can work together to remove barriers, increase activity in the field and stimulate the Region’s economy.
December 13, 2006 in Europe, Hybrids | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
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Comments
Hot Dam! It looks just like the Lotus 7 that Patrick McGoohan drove in "The Prisoner".
Posted by: DS | Dec 13, 2006 8:56:49 AM
Just watch out for killer weather balloons while you're driving it.
Posted by: Neil | Dec 13, 2006 10:44:34 AM
