Green Cars at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

A number of green cars made an appearance at Goodwood, in addition to the Infiniti M35 hybrid in which we went up the hill with Red Bull Racing F1 team boss Christian Horner at the wheel.

We took the opportunity to quiz Christian about the greening of Formula 1 and we concluded that the noise of the cars is such an important part of the F1 experience for spectators, it’s difficult to see how F1 could ever move to all-electric powertrains.

However engine downsizing and increased levels of energy recovery are on the cards, and the Infiniti M35h in which we were tackling the hill climb is a great example of how a car can deliver excellent performance whilst being extremely energy-efficient – and while still making a great noise with its 3.5-litre V6 powerplant.

With 359 bhp from its combination of petrol engine and electric motor, a 0-62 mph time of just 5.5 seconds, and rear-wheel drive, the Infiniti M35h made easy work of the Goodwood hill.

Although the crowds at Goodwood see a huge variety of machinery, we certainly got some surprised looks in response to the speed with which this new luxury saloon progressed up the circuit.

However Christian’s superb driving skills and potentially record-breaking time were unfortunately ruined by catching up a slow Volvo C30 electric before reaching the finishing line

Infiniti also displayed its Etherea concept car at Goodwood. This vehicle is designed to encourage feedback about the brand’s future luxury compact class car that is also likely to feature a highly efficient powertrain.

Here are some of the other green cars in attendance at Goodwood.

Despite the discussions with Christian about Formula 1 and noise, the all-electric Nissan LEAF NISMO RC was still highly impressive with its near-silent but extremely rapid progress up the Goodwood hill. If you missed the Nissan LEAF NISMO RC at Goodwood, you can see the car in action on the track at Green-Car-Guide Live!
at the Cholmondeley Pageant of Power , 15-17 July, in Cheshire.

The Pageant of Power has been described as a ‘northern’ version of Goodwood. Although the event has not been established for as many years as Goodwood, in its favour, it is within a 90 minute drive of the huge population centres of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham, and unlike Goodwood, Cholmondeley has a circular racing track, so there is a constant stream of vehicles around the circuit, rather than the crowd having to wait for vehicles to drive back down the hill climb, as is the case with Goodwood.

The roadgoing version of the electric Nissan LEAF NISMO RC was also on display at Goodwood, and again this will be in the Green-Car-Guide Live! concourse at the Pageant of Power.

Despite all the Bugattis and Ferraris at Goodwood, based on the reaction from the crowd, the most amazing, and heart-stopping, spectacle was the Nissan Juke driving all the way up the hill on two wheels. Again, if you weren’t able to get to Goodwood to see this, you can see it again at the Pageant of Power. There’s also a Nissan Juke, one of the lowest emission petrol 4x4s, on display in the Green-Car-Guide Live! concourse.

A Toyota Prius Plug-in is in the foreground in the FoS-Tec area, with the Lexus CT 200h hybrid behind – another car that you can see on display at Green-Car-Guide Live!

Vauxhall Ampera extended-range electric vehicle – see our report from the European launch next week.

Coming soon, one of the most eagerly-awaited new car launches of 2011 – the Range Rover Evoque – the greenest Range Rover ever, with emissions from 130 g/km CO2.