One of the more impressive and unique cars to storm up the Goodwood hill climb this past weekend was Infiniti’s first running prototype of the range-extender Emerg-e sports concept, which was first shown at the 2012 Geneva motor show as a static prototype.
The UK-designed and built concept had a slightly awkward moment on Friday during the demonstrator laps, as according to a video filmed by YouTube user ‘MrDHandZ’, it either broke down or ran out of electric juice at some point during the race and was carried away on a truck.
While surely an unwelcome development, one should not forget that the Emerg-e is an advanced study making its first public outing as a fully-functioning model in a race. On the Sunday hill climb, the Emerg-e completed the run in the hands of Red Bull Racing’s Australian Formula One pilot, Mark Webber.
The working prototype is related to the 2010 Lotus Evora 414E hybrid concept. It features a hybrid drivetrain comprising two electric motors with a combined output of 402HP (300kW) and 1000Nm (737 lb-ft) of torque, a lithium-ion battery pack, four inverters and a 1.2-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine that works as a range extender.
The Emerg-e is said to be able to run on pure electricity for 30 miles (48 kilometers) before the petrol engine kicks in to provide a driving range of around 270 miles (434 kilometers) for a total of 300 miles (483 kilometers).
Another new Infiniti model that tackled the hill climb was the FX Vettel Edition of which only 50 will be made for Western Europe at prices starting at £100,800 in the UK and from €125,000 in mainland Europe, depending on country.
You get no points for guessing who drove the special edition FX at Goodwood: “We gave the FX a little bit of an edge here and there. I gave my input and I think if you look at the result, you can see the difference. I’m happy,” said double F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel after completing the run in the 414hp (420PS) V8 crossover.
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