Autocar - First for car news and reviews

Ferrari has installed solar panels on the roof of its engine factory in Maranello, a move aimed at improving energy efficiency and cutting the factory’s CO2 emissions.

The new panels will provide over 210,000 kWh of electricity annually, and will be joined by a power plant that will provide heating, cooling and electricity from a single fuel source.

These new energy-efficient steps will produce enough power for the majority of Ferrari’s needs as well as cutting the company’s CO2 em...Read the full article

210,000 kWh of electrical energy in a year sounds impressive but for a 24/7, 365 day operation works out to about the equivalent of 20 domestic electric fires(an average British home uses ~3,500 kWh/year). Surely this must be a vanishingly small fraction of Maranello's electricity usage. Given a cost of ~20 cents per kilowatt-hour the payback on purchasing and fitting these thousand-odd Mitsubishi solar panels must be horrendous. But then 'Green' economics never did make sense, unless you add in tax credits, 'green' kudos and suchlike.

Autocar:

have been installed along the factory’s south-facing flat roof

- how can a flat roof be south-facing?

If you look carefully at the picture of the factory roof, there is external plant running down the spine of the building, these will create shadows on the north side of the roof.

 But I agree that the cost of the solar panels will far outweigh the savings made, the payback period will be at least 20 years at a guess.  However the "green" statement it makes surely must have a value in these times as well.

 What would be interesting to see is the CO2 output of making a single Ferrari, against an eco car such as a Toyota Prius, plus all of the other environmental impacts.

 Ferrari use recyclable materials in aluminium, natural materials in copious amounts of leather etc, and lightweight materials to the benefit of performance and economy. All made locally where possible using local craftsmen.

The Prius on the other hand uses parts procured from the 4 corners of the earth, acid in its batteries and nickel (?) which has to be mined (a big output of C02), and because of the batteries weighs more than a petrol engined equivalent, to the detriment of economy.

I would happily place a bet on the cradle to grave C02 output of a prius is greater than an F430, and that includes using them both for the same mileage per annum.  Remember that piece on Top gear where a BMW M3 driven at a calm pace was more economical than the Prius been driven frantically to keep ahead!

In all I think Ferrari are benefiting more from looking at the bigger picture than just what comes out of the exhaust pipe, which sadly most environmentalists do!

Solar panels are expensive (20 years about right at current electricity prices - some figures here: http://www.inderscience.com/search/index.php?action=record&rec_id=13241 ) but the energy payback time is much shorter - a couple of years. I guess it depends what you're bothered about, and no-one's pushing solar panels as a way to get cheap electricity, rather clean electricity.

Easy enough to work out the CO2 difference for fuel consumption - call it 20k km a year (bit more than 12k miles). Prius - 104g/km, F430 420g/km. Over 10 years, that's 20.8 tonnes for the Prius, 84 tonnes for the F430.

Some stuff here about energy required for manufacture: http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/askpablo-time-to-get-a-new-car-002538.php

Suggests ~33,000 kWh to make a Prius (vs.??? to make an F430 and ~59,000 kWh to make a Hummer) - if you assume that's all supplied by electricity at the current UK generation mix (500g CO2/kWh) you get an additional 16.5 tonnes for the Prius.

So, over 10 years @ 20,000 km/year (assuming no maintenance for either) that's 37 tonnes for the Prius to be manufactured and driven, and 84 tonnes for the F430 just to be driven.

You highlight Nickel - now I don't know how much of an NiMh cell is Nickel by mass, but the Prius battery is about 50kg total. I suspect the tonne or so of steel that goes into the bodywork is a far bigger deal. If you're going to ask that question, you better also ask how much energy is used in producing the aluminium (about 4 times as much as steel per tonne IIRC), carbon fibre and epoxy resin which go into an F430, and how easily you can recycle them compared to steel....

N0077666:

I would happily place a bet on the cradle to grave C02 output of a prius is greater than an F430, and that includes using them both for the same mileage per annum.

I do 40,000 miles per year in my daily drive company Prius. I'm on 110,000 miles so far. Even if a Ferrari could cope with 40,000 miles per year (it couldn't - it'd have fallen to pieces long before then), I suspect you're having a laugh with your Co2 claim).

N0077666:

The Prius on the other hand uses parts procured from the 4 corners of the earth

The Earth is round.

N0077666:

and because of the batteries weighs more than a petrol engined equivalent, to the detriment of economy.

If by this you mean the Prius weighs more than an equivalent car, then you're wrong. Measuring "equivalent" by wheelbase, then the Prius weighs less than a Vectra, Insignia, Mondeo and Passat. It even weighs less than the lardy class-size-below Golf.