Jet-Powered Jaguar C-X75 To Be A Track Car

British luxury car brand Jaguar stunned the world with its beautiful C-X75 concept back in 2010. Not only was its sleek design alluring, but also its jet-turbine technology.

The concept car used a pair of micro-turbines which would power the electric drive-train. So instead of using a conventional gas engine to power the electric motors, like in the Fisker Karma, Jaguar showed that using these lighter micro-turbines would be a more powerful and more efficient alternative.

But a concept is one thing, and the reality can be quite different. When Jaguar gave the C-X75 the green-light for production, they found that micro-turbine technology is still very much in its infancy, and that long-term reliability is not known for such a system. Plus, these turbines do generate more heat, so would require longer air-intakes to channel air to these motors.

So Jaguar has decided that the production, road-going C-X75, which will look pretty much identical to the concept car, will be offered with a Cosworth and Williams F1 developed 1.6-liter, turbo-charged, four cylinder engine, which will be able to produce roughly 500-hp. This engine will work with a pair of electric motors that not only assist in achieving better fuel-economy, but also add to the performance of this car.

All this is well and good, but what is to become of the original micro-turbine idea? Not to worry, that idea is not dead. Jaguar and its parent company Tata have invested and opened a new factory in Coventry, U.K. called the Bladon Jets Engineering Center. This facility, which employs 15-people, is dedicated towards the development of these micro-turbines. As for their first application, Jaguar global brand director Adrian Hallmark has said that this power plant will be featured on a track-only version of the C-X75.

Testing the system for track use will eventually pave the way forward for using the system on a road car. This means, cars with jet engines (just like what the Jetsons had) are going to be on our roads in the not too distant future.