UK firm Ricardo is behind the 'Olympics Green Messengers', a fleet of 50 hybrid vehicles co-developed with Chery Automobile Company for the Beijing Olympics.

"With its expertise in hybrid electric vehicles and its wide-ranging skills in systems integration and vehicle control and electronics, Ricardo was a natural choice of engineering partner for Chery when the Chinese automaker decided to develop its first hybrid products," said Ricardo.

Two new vehicles, both based on its existing Chery's A5 model, have been produced.

The first is a stop-start hybrid based on a 12V belt starter-generator (BSG) linked to a 5-speed manual 1.6 litre petrol engine.

The second is more comprehensive: equipped with a 1.3 litre petrol engine and a 12kW crankshaft-mounted 151V integrated starter-generator (ISG).

"The ISG-equipped sedan provides a significant increase in performance over the equivalent baseline vehicle fitted with a 1.3 litre engine," claimed Ricardo. "Peak power and torque are comparable with that of a larger 1.6 litre engine."

Included was a technology transfer deal.

"For this reason a dedicated on-site engineering office was established at the Ricardo Cambridge Technical Centre," said Ricardo. "Here, Chery engineers were able to work alongside colleagues from Ricardo, as well as with component and sub-system suppliers, and could undertake key aspects of the project."

A 7% improvement in fuel consumption is claimed for the BSG vehicle over the ECE Urban drive cycle, "and it is expected that the improvement will be greater than 10 per cent in real-world urban driving", claimed Ricardo. "For the more complex ISG product, the fuel consumption improvement over the NEDC cycle is expected to approach 15% compared to the 1.6 litre benchmark vehicle."

Engineered to European emissions requirements, both vehicles will be mass produced for Chinese and other markets.