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Hybrid CanAm Spyder Under Development

Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) is currently working on an electric hybrid roadster development project. The company has invested US$5 million into the Centre de Technologies Avancees BRP (CTA BRP) at Quebec’s Universite de Sherbrooke as a support to develop hybrid engine technology for BRP's Can-Am Spyder roadster.

Additionally, the Automotive Partnership Canada program will further bring an extra US$6.1 million into the four-year project.

“Our mandate is ambitious and complex,”
said Mihai Rasidescu, president and general manager of the CTA. “Our goal is to develop completely new electric hybrid technology for a three-wheel vehicle that uses 50% less fuel and reduces CO2 emissions by 50% while maintaining its speed, power and performance.”

The research team, comprising about 30 people from the University and BRP, will be led by Professor Alain Desrochers from the Universite de Sherbrooke's Mechanical Engineering Department.

"Creating a three-wheel vehicle as opposed to a hybrid car poses significant design challenges that require a very high degree of innovation. These challenges include the lack of space to accommodate hybrid motorization, cooling problems, aerodynamics, vehicle weight, and noise. Everything must be studied and modified,"
stated Desrochers.

Over the next four years the CTA will produce three generations of prototypes and their components. The final product must pass the test in terms of performance, reliability, durability, and economic mass production. Any technological innovations will be potentially transferable to other types of vehicles and products.

"The powertrain technologies used in our snowmobiles, side-by-side vehicles, and outboard engines are already the best in the industry in terms of fuel consumption, and are milestones towards our goal of providing consumers with increasingly eco-performing technology,"
said BPR President and CEO Jose Boisjoli.
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