Zoomi Life

The K1 Attack is being billed as the world’s first hybrid supercar.  “A fast, environmentally friendly hybrid sports car.”

While whether this car is first might be debatable, it’s still pretty dang cool.  The team that took the 2002 Tour de Sol wondered why hybrids weren’t more popular and decided to build the K1 concept.  The EVXTeam plans to compete in the Automotive X Prize this year with the Attack.

The K1 Attack is dual powered, with a Volkswagen turbo diesel motor (150hp output, running on pure B100 biodiesel) powering the rear wheels and a whopping 200hp electric motor from AC Propulsion on the front wheels.  The motor is powered by a 450v ultra-capacitor pack.  This super hybrid is capable of 50mpg with 0-60 mile acceleration in under four seconds.

It works in a very unique way: the motor and power pack only aid in the initial acceleration, to give that impressive speed off the line.  Then the diesel motor kicks in to keep the car moving and to refill the ultra-capacitor.

In Tour de Sol 2006, the car competed as a pure diesel, having not yet installed the power pack and motors due to budget constraints.

Now for the real kicker: the K1 Attack team is a group of high school students in Philadelphia.  West Philadelphia High School to be exact.

How cool is that?

Source: EVXTeam