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Toyota unveiled the Alessandro Volta Sports Hybrid concept car in 2004, so where is it? 

First off, who made the rule that hybrid vehicles must exude modesty by flaunting unappealing designs?  Does unpretentiousness equate to lack of taste, or more importantly, can’t I be ostentatious and eco-friendly at the same time?  I think it’s important to remember that you don’t have to renounce all modern social culture in order to be environmentally kind.  Italian designer Fabrizio Giugiaro reminded us of that with his design for the Toyota Alessandro Volta Hybrid in 2004.

The Volta which seats three abreast, was basically a shell design built on Toyota’s ultimate hybrid system, the 2004 Lexus RX 400.  The carbon fiber chassis combines a 3.3-liter V6 gasoline engine located behind the rear axle with two additional electric engines; one on each axle.  The team of motors provides a maximum output of 300 kW (408 bhp), which allows for a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph), while more impressively enabling the car to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (0 to 62 mph) in 4.03 seconds.  Getting almost 450 miles on a tank of gas, it’s too bad this prototype never materialized as a production vehicle.  

It seems like too many conservationists with the catholic mentality of “if I enjoy it, so it must be evil”  have stiff-armed car companies into pumping out hybrids that look like they were manufactured on the planet Lame-O.  

Fabrizio Giugiaro the designer responsible for vehicles such as the BMW Nazca, the Alfa Romeo Scighera and the Volkswagen V 12, designed the Alessandro Volta which fell by the wayside due to the high costs involved with it’s production…maybe if they cut out some of those useless extra’s such as drive-by-wire controls, we’ll someday see a fancy pants hybrid sports car. 

The Volta carries 70 kg batteries under the lightweight carbon-fiber chassis. The car also features a petrol and two electric engines situated behind the cars axles.  The mechanical layout eliminates the traditional transmission and gearbox as well as the central tunnel from the propeller shaft and exhaust pipe, this allows for a flat floor and a comfy three seater straight across the front. 

The car is 4.3 meters long and less than 2 meters wide and has the capability to cover 700 km (435 miles) at highway average speed with a 52- liter (13.7 gallon) tank.  With pressing environmental issues such as gas emissions and the unrelenting consumption of oil-derivatives the wealthy people of the world need more toys geared to conservation, we can’t just rely on Hollywood Prius owners to set the example.