In the third AutoblogGreen Podcast (which you can listen to here), we heard from Tony Martindale about the Connaught Type D hybrid. You can read more on the Type D-H here and read what Martindale has to say below. Enjoy.

ABG: I'm here with Tony Martindale of Connaught Motor Company and we are going to talk a little bit about the Type D hybrid. We are here at the booth at the AFVI, alternative fuels and vehicle's conference and expo. I have noticed a lack of any sort of vehicle. There are lots of videos and lots of pictures but you were telling me there is a specific reason why you didn't bring the Type D over.

TM: Yeah. Sure. We are launching the vehicle in the U.K. market this year and we are currently laying down the production facility which means we will be getting cars to consumers in the U.K. around about November of this year. The reason why we haven't brought the car over to the U.S. is that we don't want to over egg the product to the U.S. market just yet. We want to make sure we get a real structured launch, a real structured grounding exercise in place and, you know, my biggest concern is that we need to make sure we look after our customers because we are very keen on making the sale of the vehicle and the experience of owning a Connaught is a very special – special one indeed. So, you know, if we brought a vehicle here – we already received something like six percent of our interest in the product from the U.S. already and if I went even further with that now, we would – it would almost become unmanageable just to sheer volume of all the requests.

ABG: But there is an idea that it would likely be available for sale here –

TM: Yes, very much so.

(continues after the break)

We give a brief recap of the green highlights of the New York Auto Show including the GM mini car triplets and the AFVI conference in Anaheim, California. Sam has an interview with Neal Anderson of the Automotive X-Prize and Sebastian talks to people behind the Naro car and the Connaught Type-D hybrid.


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While the specs are a bit different from what was announced last November, the Connaught Type D V10 sports coupe with a hybrid gasoline/electric engine is still on the way. Connaught Motor Co. officially announced today that it will build "the world's first green, high performance hybrid sports coupe." Deliveries will start in early 2008.

So, what are the new specs? Last fall, the numbers stood at 35 mpg (US gallons) from a 48V electrical system and super capacitors with a 2.0L V10. This meant 162 hp and a 0-60 time of 6.5 seconds. The official numbers out today say the mpg has increased to 42 mpg and the 0-60 time has dropped to 6.2 seconds. The exact engine in the Type D hybrid was not described by Connaught. Top speed is 150 mph. Lightweight composites and carbon and aluminum panels keep the weight under 2,000 pounds.

We do know that the Type D, body and powertrain, is new from the ground up and will be built at a new plant in southwest Wales. Designing and building the Type D is/was a £12million ($25 million) investment.

A non-hybrid version, the Type D GT Syracuse, with a V10 two-liter supercharged 300hp engine, will also be offered. More details are available after the jump and at the Connaught website. Click on the image above or the thumbnails below to see a high-resolution (1,280 pixel wide) image gallery of the Type D hybrid. The images are downloadable for your personal use.

Update: Tony Martindale, Connaught's CEO, will be attending the AFVI conference next week. We'll try to corner him for an interview.



Related:

• Obscure British car-maker Connaught introduces hybrid sports coupe

[Source: International Business Wales]

Britain has always had lots of small cottage industry car-makers that exist in varying degrees of obscurity. Most of these manufacturers usually have spotty quality and reliability and never export their products off the island. They also usually exist on the hairy edge of financial solvency. Along with companies like Reliant, Caterham, Noble, Bristol and others is a company called Connaught. Connaught originally came to life in the 1950s before fading away at some point, and then being revived in 2002. They came back with a coupe powered by an odd little 2.0L narrow angle V-10(22.5 degree vee) engine with an integrated supercharger that is rated at 300 hp.

Connaught has now announced a new hybrid version of their type-d coupe which they are calling the worlds first hybrid sports coupe. This one also appears to use the basic 2.0L V-10, except that the supercharger is replaced by an electric motor. They are calling this one a mild hybrid, with a combined total output of 162 hp. Acceleration is claimed at 6.5 seconds for 0-60 mph with a curb weight of less than 1900 lbs. Fuel economy is rated at 35 mpg (US gallons) combined city/highway. The car uses a 48V electrical system and super capacitors that capture energy from the regenerative braking. The chassis is built on a light-weight steel space frame. The conventional type-d GT is priced at about $120,000, but no price seems to be available for the the hybrid version yet. More information is available at the Connaught web-site and more photos are after the jump.

[Source: Connaught]