In 2010, a Chinese startup by the name of Hybrid Kinetic made headlines over plans for production of hybrid vehicles in Montgomery, Alabama. The company even had a wild concept, the Quaranta, which was actually an original Italdesign-Giugiaro creation built in 2008 to mark the Italian firm’s 40th anniversary.
Hybrid Kinetic, which was founded by the exiled former Chairman of Chinese automaker Brilliance, fell off the radar shortly after but now the company is back and yes there’s a new concept, too.
The new concept was developed with Italy’s Pininfarina, which in addition to doing the design work also lent the car its name. The name of the concept is the Pininfarina H600, and it’s an extended-range electric sedan that, like the Ren supercar that rival Chinese startup Techrules presented in Geneva, uses a jet turbine for its range-extender.
Few specifics were given regarding the powertrain so it’s safe to assume the concept won’t be entering production anytime soon, but according to Pininfarina the unique setup will deliver over 800 horsepower and enable a range of close to 620 miles. The 204-inch, 4,122-pound luxury sedan is also said to be capable of accelerating to 62 mph in 2.9 seconds and hitting a top speed of 155 mph.
Hybrid Kinetic was responsible for the powertrain and says its turbine design is less than half the size of a conventional internal combustion engine. The turbine is said to also be capable of running on a variety of fuels including diesel, gasoline and hydrogen.
The numbers are certainly impressive. Let’s just hope they don’t turn out to be too ambitious.
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