The January 30, 2010 60 Minutes included a feature story on the Brazilian Jaguar (the one that goes "meow" not "varoom"). Click on the photo above to view it on You Tube.

The E-Type for the 21st Century: 205mph electric hybrid supercar from Jaguar that costs £200,000

By Ray Massey
Last updated at 9:29 AM on 30th September 2010

A sexy new 205mph Jaguar supercar that blends sporting looks and performance with the latest ‘green’ technology is set to rock the prestigious Paris Motor Show when it is officially unveiled today.

The new two-seater Jaguar C-X75 is a £200,000 electric hybrid vehicle uses hi-tech jet-turbine know-how from the aviation industry to sprint from rest to 62 mph in just 3.5 seconds and up to 100mph in just 5.5 seconds.

It was already being dubbed last night ‘The E-Type for the 21st Century’ and is set to be pored over by a Government minister on a trade mission to the Paris show today.

Jaguar

The new two-seater is a £200,000 electric hybrid vehicle uses hi-tech jet-turbine know-how from the aviation industry to sprint from rest to 62 mph in just 3.5 seconds

The new Jaguar dispenses with a conventional internal combustion engine.

Instead, powered by a lithium ion battery charged from the domestic mains, the new Jaguar can run with zero-emissions for up to 68 miles on four electric motors - one of which drives each of four wheels.

Then it can harness two rear-mounted super-efficient gas-turbines to generate the extra electric power it needs to give it an extended range of 560miles - enough to get it from London to Berlin on a single 60 litre tank-full.

And that is with minimal emissions of just 28g/km of carbon dioxide - the greenhouse gas blamed for global warning and against which all UK cars are now taxed.

The car featured at the Paris show has the electric hybrid and gas turbine generator as its power source. But Jaguar say it could also run on a conventional petrol engine.

The new Jaguar supercar that blends sporting looks and performance with the latest 'green' technology

Jaguar said: ¿It demonstrates that it is possible to retain Jaguar¿s core values of performance, design, and luxury using technology that will make environmentally responsible'

A Jaguar spokesman said:’A six-hour plug-in charge of the lithium-ion batteries allows an electric-only range of 68 miles.

‘But the innovative twin-turbines can either charge the car’s batteries, allowing the supercar to travel 560 miles between fill-ups. Or it can automatically provide supplementary power directly to the electric motors to allow the car to top 205mph.’

He added:’It celebrates three-quarters of a century of beautiful, fast, Jaguars by being the fastest and perhaps most beautiful of them all.’

Jaguar said:’It demonstrates that it is possible to retain Jaguar’s core values of performance, design, and luxury using technology that will make environmentally responsible performance and electrical vehicles a practical proposition.’

Inside the driver is cosseted in a cockpit with Storm Grey ‘Bridge of Weir’ leather seats and an aircraft-inspired dashboard of cream suede-like leather and polished aluminium.

Steering wheel covered in soft neoprene and a top-end ‘surround sound’ hi-fi is included along with a custom-made clock which is kept wound by the acceleration and braking of the car.

It has phosphor blue luminescent interior ‘theatre’ lighting which alters to suit driver’s mood - including dimming when it switches to ‘aircraft in combat mode’ at speed or in ‘track’ mode to focus the driver’s attention even more on the driving.

A graphic that illustrates how the new Jaguar's electric motors and tuirbines provide its power

The C-X75 celebrates 75 years of the Jaguar marque. Its creators also reckon it is arguably ‘the sexiest Jaguar ever’ - in an iconic line-up that includes the E-Type of the 1960s, the C and D-Types of the 1950s and the XJ13 Le Mans prototype of 1966.

Jaguar said turbines gave advantages over conventional piston engine:’With fewer moving parts, turbines do not need oil lubrication or water cooling systems, which offers considerable weight saving.

They can also be run on a range of fuels including diesel, biofuels, compressed natural gas and liquid petroleum gas.’

But with the turbine blades spinning at 80,000 revs per minute, it also needs to suck in ‘considerable’ volumes of air through the vents and scoops.

The company said the use of hi-tech turbines was fitting, as British jet engine pioneer Sir Frank Whittle credited with developing the gas-turbine jet engine, was born in Coventry just a short distance form Jaguar’s former Brown’s Lane factory.

Specialist firm Bladon Jets have refined that technology to produce much smaller, super-efficient ‘micro’ gas turbines for Jaguar under a programme supported by UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board.

The car sucks in air at an incredible rate from front and side vents to create more downforce - and more speed

Jaguar has invested £800million into new ‘green’ technology on top of its £1billion a year in new models - with a new small saloon car and a roadster also in the pipeline.

Business Secretary Mark Prisk is today visiting the Jaguar stand in Paris to see the supercar for himself as part of a wider mission in the French capital to drum up trade among international car-makers and suppliers.

Jaguar’s vehicle line director Ian Hoban said:’The supercar shows that Jaguar will continue to build beautiful, fast cars that will generate their performance in a sustainable manner.’

Jaguar Cars managing director Mike O’Driscoll added:’It ensures our reputation for engineering excellence will continue for another 75 years.’

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is now owned by India’s TATA and employs 16,000 people in the UK.

Land Rover is showing off in Paris its new Range Rover Evoque mini luxury 4X4 which is being built at Halewood on Merseyside.

By the end of the year JLR will decide which of its other two factories - Castle Bromwich in Birmingham or Solihull, will close, though it insists job will be transferred.

The car has all the stylings expected from a £200,000 supercar - but runs on green technology

The Jaguar has been dubbed 'The E-Type for the 21st Century'