Hybrid powertrain development completed for Infiniti Q60 Project Black S

Infiniti and the Renault F1 Team have completed the track-focused development of the unique high-performance, dual-hybrid powertrain created for the Infiniti Project Black S prototype. The development work was signed off at Salzburgring in Austria by Renault F1 Team star Nico Hulkenberg, where two prototypes were put through their paces. 

Infiniti will continue to test and validate elements of the Q60 Project Black S prototype and will take a decision on the production potential for the car and its technologies by the end of 2019.

An evolving collaboration between Infiniti and the Renault F1 Team, the Project Black S prototype has served as a test-bed for development of the new Formula One inspired powertrain technology. The latest version of the Project Black S was revealed in Paris in fall 2018.

Since then, powertrain engineers from the Renault F1 Team and Infiniti have developed the unique technology further, exploring whether it could be deployed in a high-performance road car. Furthermore, the program has provided an insight into how Infiniti can work hand-in-hand with partners on developing new projects and technologies.

The Project Black S dual-hybrid powertrain technology is derived from Formula One and engineered specifically for road use.

A focused, agile team of designers and engineers from the two technology partners has enabled the rapid development of testing prototypes. A test-bed based on the Infiniti Q60 sports coupe and its 394bhp VR30 twin-turbo V6 engine, the dual-hybrid system combines supercar performance with smart energy management.

The VR30 engine has been transformed with the creation of two heat energy harvesting systems which develop electricity under acceleration. Paired with a kinetic harvesting system that generates electricity under braking and an all new energy management system, the Project Black S is a unique and exciting electrified performance hybrid prototype.

In a similar manner to the Renault F1 Team's R.S.19 racecar, the Project Black S' smart powertrain stores this energy and discharges it as the driver requires, spooling up the turbochargers instantaneously as the driver opens the throttle, boosting power sent to the rear wheels  over continued periods of acceleration.

Currently, the dual-hybrid powertrain is capable of producing up to 552bhp, 40% more than the prototype's donor car, the Infiniti Q60 Red Sport 400. Uniquely, it provides sustained and sustainable hybrid performance, delivering electrically assisted acceleration, lap after lap.