Top Gear’s Top 9: our favourite hybrids
1. McLaren P1
The British corner of the hybrid hypercar ‘holy trinity’ is just as outrageous now as it was back in 2013. The P1 teamed a 727bhp version of McLaren’s twin-turbo V8 engine with electric boost to send 903bhp to the rear wheels. How many other hybrids are you aware of that shoot flames out the back?
2. Porsche 918 Spyder
Mind you, there aren’t too many hybrids that can boast chimney exhausts that muller the air above the engine bay with heat haze. The Porsche 918 Spyder is such a vehicle. Its powertrain comprises a 4.6-litre naturally aspirated V8 good for 605bhp, and twin electric motors adding a dollop of 280bhp. With 12 miles (19km) of all-electric mode and a sub-7minute Nürburgring lap capability, this is arguably the hyper-hybrid with the broadest remit of talents.
3. Ferrari La Ferrari
And where does that leave TheFerrari? Well, as the one that made the least effort to run on batteries alone (it can only do it for a couple of minutes at parking speed), the most powerful one (the V12 and e-motor added up to a titanic 986bhp) and most importantly the best-sounding one. The new SF90 Stradale is faster and half the price, but with turbos, it can’t possibly emit such a nape-prickling shriek.
4. Honda NSX
Is Honnda's second-gen NSX the forgotten supercar? Its badge, its dowdy cabin and its l-o-o-o-ng gestation period all counted against it, and that's a pity, because when driven as quickly as its turbo V6 and triple of e-motors will carry it, the NSX is a spectacular bit of kit. Honda quotes combined power of 573bhp, but on boost, it's more junior hypercar than Audi R8 rival. A mini-918, if you like.
5. Hyundai Ioniq
No, it ain’t just supercars that move the hybrid game on. The Ioniq is, on the face of it, a tediously humdrum teardrop ecobox that ferries you home from the discotheque via a sweaty kebab meat emporium. But unlike its fierce rival, the hybrid-defining, mega-selling Toyota Prius, the Ioniq uses a proper dual-clutch gearbox, not a droning, CVT. So, it’s much, much more pleasant to pilot, and yet it’s still good for 50-60mpg (4.7 - 5.65 litres/100km) without even plugging it in. Toyota made hybrid cars mainstream, and changed the car world. But Hyundai made one better.
6. BMW i8
Yes, as recently as 2014, BMW still knew how to design a handsome car. A beautiful car. A car which had fake kidney grilles, sure, and yet exuded elegance, grace and future-thinking cool. In its midriff lay nothing more than a tuned Mini Cooper turbo engine, and a single electric motor. What the i8 gives you is supercar looks, sports car performance, and exec saloon miles per gallon. If it had sold better, maybe BMW’s styling wouldn’t have gone down the toilet since…
7. Jaguar C-X75
Yes, we’re still upset the C-X75 was canned before it made it into production, because the spec of this thing really did take ‘downsizing’ to its most extreme ends. A hypercar with a 1.6-litre turbo-and super-charged four-pot? What was Jaguar thinking?
Well, revs, efficiency, and light weight. Very progressive. And thanks to the brains trust of Williams Advanced Engineering, it was pulled off too. The C-X75 prototypes developed some 900bhp, and deserved better than that suspect car chase in the 007 movie Spectre…
8. Honda Insight
The first Insight’s numbers now look paltry: only 67bhp from its 1.0-litre triple-cylinder engine. Only 13bhp from the e-motor. But then look at the weight: just 838kg when specced without air-con and with a manual transmission. Even the CVT ‘auto’ with A/C came in sub-900kg. Between 1996 and 2016 this was officially the most fuel-efficient car the United States Environmental Protection Agency had ever tested. Think of it as Extinction Rebellion’s idea of a Lotus Elise.
9. Koenigsegg Regera
And now for the most powerful and quickest hybrid car the world has yet produced. A twin-turbo V8 developing 1,100bhp? That’s small potatoes for Koenigsegg these days. The Regera ups the stakes against Bugatti and co by including a 4.5kWh 800-volt battery, and three electric motors generating a combined 700bhp. Because of the fiendishly clever direct-drive transmission, the maximum power output is quoted at 1,479bhp, with the full 1,800bhp becoming available at very high revs, as the Regera seamlessly romps towards its 250mph+ (402+kph) top speed.
On a record attempt run in September 2019, one of these carbon fibre spaceships was timed from 0-400kph (249mph) and back to rest again in 31.49 seconds. A Chiron takes almost ten seconds longer.
