Ferrari goes green with eco-friendly California

Ferrari's greened-up California HELE. Photo / Supplied

High Emotions, Low Emissions. If you reckon that sounds like the latest instalment in a carbon tax debate, you're not entirely off the mark.

It's the way Ferrari describes its newest and most unusual model to arrive Downunder.

The just-released Ferrari California HELE is the first green Ferrari, quite a step for the company which has patented its own shade of red.

The California HELE (pronounced "heli" as in helicopter) is the culmination of an intense environmental focus for the world's most famous supercar maker.

It's the first showroom example of an environmental programme in which Ferrari has reduced its total corporate carbon emissions by about 30,000 tonnes, or roughly 40 per cent over the past five years.

This has been achieved by measures including use of photovoltaic power in its Maranello factory, reconfiguring and realigning the manufacturing plant buildings, and even creating huge indoor gardens and rooftop cooling ponds to naturally ventilate and regulate the temperatures inside.

Ferrari claims it has reduced the carbon emissions of its vehicle range, in percentage terms, by more than any other manufacturer on the planet.

Now, admittedly that improvement hasn't exactly come off a low base. When your standard engine configuration is a high-performance V8 which revs beyond the 8000rpm mark, and your fleet includes the V12 599 GTB Fiorano, there is always significant room for improvement.

But the arrival in New Zealand and Australia of Ferrari's first truly low-emission model is still something of a landmark.

Ferrari's PR people boast, rather proudly and with some justification, that the Prancing Horse brand has proven that it is possible to achieve low carbon dioxide emissions while maintaining Ferrari performance characteristics and driving pleasure.

And to back their claims, consider this. The California HELE has the same blistering acceleration and handling and braking capabilities as the standard California, but emits less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, per kilometre, than your average taxi.

Your typical Toyota Hiace van pumps out 294 grams a kilometre, compared with the HELE's 270. A Holden Commodore SS, emits up to 306gm/km and a Ford Falcon F6 about 300. And neither can hold a candle to the Ferrari's supercar performance.

Ferrari also provided the carbon dioxide emission figures of class rivals like the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550 (315gm/km); Aston Martin V8 Vantage (295), Bentley Continental GT (384), and Mercedes-Benz SL500 (286).

To achieve this relatively modest carbon footprint from a screaming 4.3-litre, 338kW V8, Ferrari has gone to extraordinary lengths.

The HELE has different engine cooling fans and fuel pumps to the standard California, both of which use less power (meaning less drain on the engine by the alternator).

The airconditioner compressor gets an electronic control for efficiency.

More noticeable is a remapping of the California's seven-speed dual-clutch transmission which reduces engine revs by about 8 per cent in urban driving.

And finally, and most significantly, Ferrari has introduced an engine stop-start function which turns off that beautiful V8 when you stop at the lights, reducing urban fuel use by up to 15 per cent in heavy traffic.

Our test drive in the California HELE revealed that it is an extraordinary piece of machinery, with virtually no hints that it has been throttled back to improve its efficiency.

The big giveaway is when you pull up to the lights in heavy traffic and the stop-start kicks in to cut out the sonorous rasp of the engine. It's the price you pay for saving the planet, albeit in a modest way. - AAP

The California costs $452,500 in New Zealand, plus $2650 for the HELE option. Delivery and dealer costs are extra.