Philadelphia Highschoolers Build Hybrid Supercar
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 09.11.05
We don't remember doing anything like that in highschool... Oh well, some people have all the fun. The West Philadelphia High School Electric Vehicle Team built this biodiesel car that gets 50 mpg (4.7l/100 km), has over 300 hp and does 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds, all that with a budget of $15,000! They used the Attack kit from K-1 and a 1.9 liters turbo-diesel VolksWagen engine. The rear wheels are powered by the diesel while the front wheels are powered by a 200 hp electric motor. Since it's a "performance" hybrid, the electric motor is used mostly for acceleration: "To keep the weight low, the electric motor will be powered by a 450 volt ultra-capacitor pack (weighing only 200lbs). [...] Under normal driving conditions, the vehicle will solely be powered by the diesel engine. Therefore, the ultra-capacitor pack stores only enough energy for a few minutes of blazing acceleration." We wish them the best for their next green projects!
::The World’s First Hybrid Supercar, ::NBC News Segment About This Story (wmv format), ::Pictures of the Attack being built ::Autoblog: Hybrid Attack
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that is so amazing. wow.
Good for them. These kids have made the obvious-to-many-but-none-in-the-industry connection that to get more hybrid vehicles into the fleets of the world, you have to add a little sex appeal.
Albeit, this particular incarnation is questionable on its tree-hugger merits, but at least they're moving in the right direction.
A budget of $15K? That doesn't sound right. The AC Propulsion drivetrain alone costs $25K. Was it all donated?
That's cause ACP is a Trojan Horse! There and funded by Motor City to make sure kids like these never get a leg up... Oops!
Essentially consumer diesal's are illegal in California and my home of Massachusetts given the new emission standards. The vehicle the kids could not be registered within the state of Mass.
Just keep that in mind all. Some trade-offs will need to be made.
Nice cool but I'm afraid that the real price tag has been severly downsized. For instance, the K-1 Attack kit goes for 16.000Euro only! And where are the engine and electrical components..