In the latest news of things that make me want to vomit, the blogosphere has produced perhaps the most disgusting and horrible news I have ever read.  Quite possibly one of the greatest crimes against humanity are to be perpitrated by the Italians, and we should do everything we can to keep them from getting away with it. That’s right, Ferrari is producing a hybrid.

They would sacrifice glory like this for gas mileage.  Enzo Ferrari is rolling over in his grave.

So apparently the eco-bug has caught on at the headquarters of gas-guzzlers, but what does this mean for the future of supercars?  Apparently, the first step would be cutting emissions by 40% in four years, and take it from someone who’s been to Italy – they need to cut down on the smog.  Not only are the health repurcussions a main reason to cut down on emissions, but in a country like Italy (where many of the streets and buildings are standing relics) exhaust fumes can be quite damaging.

By 2015, we can expect to see the first hybrid Ferrari.  They claim that there should be no loss of performance, but I have my suspicions, and rightfully so.  Hybrids traditionally act as band-aids to greater problems, and don’t offer any real solutions.  As Tesla showed us, supercar performance doesn’t have to come from a gas engine.  If anything, electric cars can prove to deliver more power and longevity than their gas counterparts.

The thing I don’t understand is why we don’t go to more clean burning materials.  As I have showed in previous blogs, the cost of gasoline has a smaller impact than we may think, especially when compared to the cost of the car itself.  Clearly, if emissions are the main problem, then perhaps we could begin to harvest and produce cleaner burning materials such as ethanol.  Anyone can make ethanol in their back yard, and the best part of this strategy is that we can give the left-over alcohol to our whiskey-sipping dads.