Saturday, September 22, 2012

Peugeot Onyx Hybrid Supercar Gets Supplemental Three-Wheeled Plug-In Scooter



Alternative fuel and hybrid supercars are fast becoming a trend among automakers, especially those in Europe. One of the best-looking “green” supercars I’ve seen ahead of the Paris Auto Show is without a doubt the diesel-electric Peugeot Onyx, a copper-plated, 680 horsepower statement of eco-badassery.

It only gets better though. Peugeot is bringing along a companion vehicle to the Onyx supercar, the three-wheeled plug-in hybrid Onyx Scooter Concept. Also, it transforms. I’ll take both!

The Onyx Scooter Concept utilizes a 0.4 liter gas engine with an electric motor sending power to the rear wheel. This combo produces 60 horsepower and 43 ft-lbs of torque, a far cry from the 680 of the supercar…but not bad for a scooter. This allows for a top speed of 93 mph, and the battery is big enough to go over 18 miles in all-electric mode. This enables the Onyx Scooter Concept to get up to 117 mpg.

Now, about that transforming bit. The Onyx Scooter Concept features a center-mounted “clip box”, which when removed Onyx Scooter into “Urban Mode”, and makes it look like, well, a scooter. But with the clip box in, the Onyx Scooter is more superbike than scooter. Also, three-wheels!

Are Scooters suddenly getting cool? I wouldn’t mind being seen on some of these scooters, especially the Onyx since it looks to utilize the same bare-copper plating found on its big-brother supercar. Once the Onyx Scooter gets a nice patina going, it will look even cooler. Too bad Peugeot probably won’t build it.


Source: Peugeot

No comments:

Post a Comment