The fact that Tesla has such impressive figures has brought attention to hybrid sorts cars. The partly Google funded and Lotus built Tesla Roaster can manage 0-60 in four seconds with a top speed of 130mph. Pretty damn good for off the shelf parts. In fact racing in general is getting an overhaul thanks to new technology, the Audi R10 Diesel is dominating the Le Mans Series despite rule changes part way through the season to help rivals. Formula One is the racing series and any technology to gain advantage will be used, money is hardly an issue in F1, so it’s no surprise that F1 is looking into hybrids – for as soon as the 2007 series:

FIA president Max Moseley has already said some form of regenerative braking system that powers a burst-of-speed system is the future for Formula One (a comment that caused more than a few FIA underlings to spit-take their Châteauneuf du Pape). Now, two motorsports technology firms are teaming up to build the first hybrid-drive Formula car. Formula Renault builder Tatuus will build a concept designed by the technologists at N.Technology.

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