The Rosner Files

The electric car and hybrid battalions have arrived and were surrounded. Those companies with gasoline only vehicles are circling the wagons, not sure if this is the second coming of the Wankel or Custer's Last Stand. Hyperbole is fun isn't it ? Well, the coming of the electric car does not spell doom for anyone. But it does mean that we will be shipping ever smaller mountains of our working capital to countries with an avowed hated for the United States, but I for one can live with that. That is because when you charge your electric car you will be tapping into your local megalith utility that runs in coal (US product), natural gas (huge fields coming on line in the US), nuclear (not my favorite, but getting better), wind, solar, and the hot air from politicians (not a truly functional source).

By all appearances the Nissan Leaf all-electric and the Chevrolet Volt hybrid-electric and other current models are solid usable cars with all the drawbacks that come with the latest leading edge of a technology. You have probably heard plenty about these first generation cars. A bit funny looking, containing really expensive batteries that are bulky, don't hold a lot of power and don't charge up that fast. It's the second wave that has just cleared the horizon that is REALLY interesting. The irony is that the first volley of the second generation comes from what up until recently was the most lost-in-the-woods and hide-bound of all luxury car makers - Jaguar. Up until the last few years every Jaguar design made had to tip its hat to either the E-Type that went back to 1962 or the XJ that went back to 1968. Engineering at Jaguar was also stalled and quality control non-existent until Ford spent years pouring billions into the company sell Jaguar to Tata of India just when they had completed all the proper base-building that Jaguar needed to allow it to take a leap into the revolutionary.

What happened ? Who knows ? When Tata of India took over Jaguar no one expected much. Thus when the C-X75 Concept came out jaws dropped. Not only was this the most stunning car Jaguar has shown since the first E-Type it has the potential to become as big an icon as the E-Type. Why ? 2,970 pounds, zero to 60 in 3.4 seconds, top speed of 205 MPH. That covers style and performance. But the real trick is under the hood. Two small, modular micro-turbines that run at a constant speed to charge the batteries that drive the car. This is not to say that micro-turbines are going to save the world and give us incredible sports cars that we can drive on the street and pound around the race track.

But what it does give us is something engineers have known about since the beginning of the use of internal combustion as a power source. That is the fact that if you can build an engine that runs at one constant speed you can build a relatively simple and long-lived engine that is always operating at peak efficiency. This applies to our everyday spark-ignition engine, diesel or turbine - fueled by any combustible input. The original E Type was a styling sensation, offering supercar performance in acceleration, braking and handling, and one other thing. Big block American cars were about to make deep inroads into the high performance world, but modest drum brakes and leaf-spring suspensions left a lot to be desired. For that matter the fast cars then might get six to eight MPG, an average car might get nine to maybe fifteen MPG (with a good tailwind) and the early Dodge Darts with a slant-six and a one-barrel might squeeze 22 MPG from a gallon of regular. What did the E Type return ? 16 to 20 MPG, a revelation in its day.

Jaguar is claiming 96 horses from each of the two 77 pound 80,000 RPM micro-turbines sending power to the lithium ion batteries. With a 195 horse electric motor driving each wheel you get an astounding 780 horsepower with 1,187 pound feet of torque. Add in a 68 mile battery range and ANOTHER 560 miles burning hydrocarbons and you have one sleek package. And guess what Mom, no big complex engine, no weighty transmission, no heavy differential, no long driveshaft. The E Type was of monocoque construction when most other cars still sported a frame and bolted on body, remember car frames ? Gone and not missed, add lightness, paging Mr Colin Chapman.

The C-X75 celebrates 75 years of Jaguars, and is equally as revolutionary as the original E Type. Ringing the same bells of dramatic styling, improvements in design technology and operating efficiency. With the original C Type racing car being the car that Jaguar really started making its name with, is it possible that Jaguar is aiming the C-X75 at the very progressive American LeMans Series that is pushing the envelope racing on bioethanol produced from crop wastes and allowing manufacturers to come in with alternate power plant systems, like say, maybe, a micro-turbine? Would that make the heart of a racer in you pound just a touch ? Would that lead to race on Sunday and sell on Monday ? Does that sound like the triple-threat that made the legendary 1960s E Type the icon that it is today ?

Will Jaguar build the C-X75 ? Let me ask you ? Do you want to be the one going out on a rainy Sunday night to fill the gas tank, or would you rather plug in your Jaguar to top up the battery ? Do you want to tell your kids to drive the car that “smells” from burning gasoline, and gets “crappy” fuel consumption and is an “embarrassment” to drive to school ? Haven't most of us go through this once already ?

Well, that's it, this author has to run out of time. The rotary is broken on my phone, the batteries on my pager are dead, my watch stopped and needs to be wound, my eight-track machine is jammed and the needle of my record player needs to be replaced. I can't find my CB radio and my daughter has confiscated my rubber ducky. PLUS I heard that the buggy whip company is planning to hire a few more staff people to make hula hoops. My resume is still at the printer's and I want to be the first in line on Monday to hand in my application. Or maybe I'll just mail it in. Now where did I leave the keys to my Oldsmobile ?