The Jaguar C-X75 is a hybrid-electric, 2-seat,

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

produced by British automobile manufacturer

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that was responsible for the production of Jaguar car ...

in partnership with the derivative of the

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

team, Williams Advanced Engineering which debuted at the

2010 Paris Motor Show The 2010 Paris Motor Show took place from 2 October to 17 October 2010, in Paris expo Porte de Versailles. For 2010, the theme of the special exhibition was "The Incredible Collection 2: automobile manufacturers collections and museums." Introdu ...

. The powertrain of the C-X75 concept is rated at through four

YASA Yasa was a bhikkhu during the time of Gautama Buddha. He was the sixth bhikkhu in the Buddha's sangha and was the sixth to achieve arahanthood. Yasa lived in the 6th century BCE in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in northern India. Yasa wa ...

electric motors, each of which drives one of the four wheels. The batteries driving these motors are recharged using two

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engi ...

-fed micro

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

s instead of a conventional

four-stroke engine A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...

. It was described as a design study that would influence future design and technology. In May 2011 Jaguar announced a limited production of the C-X75 from 2013 to 2015, with a compact, forced induction petrol engine combined with electric motors instead of the micro gas turbines in the

. A maximum of 250 cars were planned to be built in partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering. The production version was expected to have an

all-electric range All-electric range (AER) is the maximum driving range of an electric vehicle using only power from its on-board battery pack to traverse a given driving cycle. In the case of an all-electric vehicle, it means the maximum range per recharge. For a ...

of . In December 2012, the company announced the cancellation of production due to the ongoing global economic crisis. Five developmental prototypes were produced in the production car specifications in 2013. The car was featured in the 2015 film ''

Spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and wri ...

'', the twenty-fourth ''James Bond'' film in which seven cars were supplied to the film makers.

Engine and performance

In terms of performance, Jaguar envisioned a goal of their future sports car reaching and accelerating from in 2.9 seconds and in 2.3 seconds. It is powered by four electric motors – one for each wheel – which have a total of and a total torque output of . Inherent in the drivetrain is the ability to independently drive each wheel across the full speed range, known as

Torque Vectoring Torque vectoring is a technology employed in automobile differentials that has the ability to vary the torque to each half-shaft with an electronic system; or in rail vehicles which achieve the same using individually motored wheels. This method ...

. Each motor weighs . The micro gas turbines from

Bladon Jets Bladon or Bladon Micro Turbine formerly was called Bladon Jets is a pioneer in the design, development and manufacture of Micro Turbine Gensets (MTGs) - using high-speed, ultra reliable and clean-burning microturbines. This British company designs ...

generate enough electricity to extend the range of the car to while producing 28 grams of per kilometre on the EU test cycle. While running solely on battery power, the C-X75 has an

of . Among other advantages, the micro turbines used in the C-X75 can be run on a range of fuels including

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration ...

compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in ...

and

liquid petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking ...

. The 15 kWh lithium ion battery pack weighs . Jaguar estimated an average carbon emission of 28 g/km on European test cycle, however, the carbon emission is around 150g/km if the turbines are running. Jaguar also focused on the aerodynamics in order to improve performance. For example, the carbon-fibre rear diffuser that guides airflow from under the car creating down-force, and includes an active aerofoil and is lowered automatically as speed increases. Moreover, the C-X75 features an extruded and bonded, aerospace-inspired, aluminium chassis, saving weight and improving sustainability and performance.

Production

In May 2011 Jaguar unveiled plans to produce the C-X75; the company had planned to produce a maximum of 250 cars in partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering. The decision was part of a investment plan, announced by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) in March 2011 at the

Geneva Motor Show The Geneva International Motor Show is an annual auto show held in March in the Swiss city of Geneva. The show is hosted at the Palexpo, a convention centre located next to the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. The Salon is organised by t ...

, to launch 40 "''significant new products''" over the next five years. The model was scheduled to be built from 2013 until 2015, although it had not yet been decided where the production would take place. The C-X75 was to be built without the micro-turbines, instead, the production version would use a downsized, forced induction petrol engine, with one electric motor at each axle. In order to create a lightweight strong structure, the chassis was planned to be made of

carbon-fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

, and the engine was to be mid-mounted for optimum weight distribution and to retain the concept's silhouette. The C-X75 production version was expected to deliver emissions of less than 99 g/km, a sub-three second 0–60 mph acceleration time, a top speed in excess of and a reduced

of as compared to the for the concept car.

Cancellation

In December 2012, Jaguar's Global Brand Director announced the cancellation of production due to the ongoing global economic crisis, as the carmaker considered that "'' it seems the wrong time to launch an £800,000 to £1 million supercar''." The company expected to take advantage of part of the investment in the C-X75 development by using the C-X75 technology in future Jaguar cars. The

Jaguar F-type The Jaguar F-Type (X152) is a series of two-door, two-seater grand tourers manufactured by British car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover under their Jaguar Cars marque since 2013. The car's JLR D6a platform is based on a shortened version of the ...

was heavily influenced from the C-X75 and carried over many design cues and technological features from it. Jaguar announced its decision to continue working on five prototypes to be developed until May 2013. These prototypes featured a 1.6-litre

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

and

supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced indu ...

inline-4 engine A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the e ...

coupled with two YASA electric motors placed on each axle of the car. The powertrain had a combined power output of at 9,000 rpm and helped the car achieve speeds up to . Up to three of these prototypes were then sold at auction, while one went to a future Jaguar museum, and one was kept by Jaguar for running demonstrations. One of these prototypes was also featured in the 2015 James Bond film, Spectre.

Appearance in ''Spectre''

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A Jaguar C-X75 (painted in dark orange) appears in the 2015 James Bond film ''Spectre'' as Mr. Hinx's car (licensed ROMA 860K). It takes part in a car chase around Rome against James Bond, who drives an

Aston Martin DB10 The Aston Martin DB10 is a bespoke grand tourer specially developed for the ''James Bond'' film ''Spectre'' by the British luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin. The car was unveiled by Sam Mendes and Barbara Broccoli, the director and produc ...

. Jaguar supplied seven examples to the filmmakers. Although the cars are visually faithful to the original C-X75 concept, they are mechanically unrelated. According to JLR Special Vehicle Operations chief John Edwards, the cars are "constructed around a spaceframe built to

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

spec" and powered by a dry sump V8 engine. Although this new appearance of the C-X75 led to speculation that production plans for the car were being revived, Edwards was quoted as saying "the film was an opportunity to showcase C-X75, but it doesn’t mean a change in strategy." The car was built in collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering.

References

External links