SEMA Review: Green Altima Race Car Does LA

Today’s budding gearheads are different in a few ways from the motoring enthusiasts of the past.  Where the old school guys are all about big power from big engines, the newest enthusiasts have been raised to “think green”, and due to the shift in the performance automotive market, that same big power is made by small engines.  The idea of a performance economy car breathes life into the possibility of a “green” race car, and Braille Battery, in cooperation with Nissan Motors, is using the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show to display their awesome high performance hybrid.

Not-ironically finished in a deep metallic green, this Altima leaves no discussion of being a pure racecar, with substantial body enhancements, and a stripped out and caged interior. The key item is, of course, the hybrid powerplant, which uses a modified supercharger, driven by electricity, to boost the 2.5L engine to an impressive 440 horsepower.  Along with the supercharger addition to the gasoline engine, the electric motor has been upgraded to offer more power as well.  This setup reported gets the Altima Hot Rod Hybrid to dash down the quarter mile in 12.9 seconds, with a speed around 110 miles per hour.

The complaint from many performance enthusiasts about hybrid or other “green” vehicles is the lack of performance, and while we have not seen a factory performance hybrid, vehicles like this show that performance modifications are possible, and very functional.