Jaguar Cancels C-X75 Program

It's been some time since we've heard any updates about Jaguar's gorgeous C-X75 supercar concept, but today doesn't bring good news. First unveiled at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, the C-X75 was unlike anything else at the time because of its gas turbine engine technology that powered its lithium-ion batteries. But instead of continuing to develop the C-X75 project for production, a new report is stating that Jaguar has cancelled the project entirely due to rising costs.

According to the British automaker's global brand director Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar feels it would "not be appropriate to launch a car like this, costing between £800,000 and £1 million" due to global economic conditions and other internal projects taking priority. Jaguar previously stated that the concept's turbine technology wasn't ready for production. So it opted to replace that with a turbocharged and supercharged 1.6-liter gasoline engine co-developed with Cosworth and the Williams F1 team that would be paired with two electric motors, one at each end of the car driving a transaxle.

All told, this powertrain could produce up to 500 horsepower, giving it an obscenely high specific output rating. (In other words, it produces a lot from a little. Interestingly, the front electric motor and wheels would run through a single-speed transmission while the rear wheels and motor were mated to a seven-speed sequential gearbox. Jaguar claims this combination returns an all-electric range of 37 miles, a 0-60 time of 2.8 seconds and a 200 mph+ top speed. Jaguar previously planned a prodution run of around 250 units, but that's obviously not going to happen now. For the serious collectors, there's a chance that Jaguar will sell off the prototypes at some point.