SEAT has unveiled a hybrid version of its Leon. The Twin Drive Ecomotive prototype made its debut at the SEAT Technical Centre in Martorell.

The car features an electric motor - powered by lithium-ion batteries – mated to a conventional petrol engine.  There has been extensive modification of the gearbox, brakes, heating and cooling systems, while major changes to the vehicle’s electronics have also been carried out.

SEAT’s Twin Drive development plan, which stretches to 2014, focuses on creating a whole range of Ecomotive vehicles with largely increased fuel economy and substantially reduced CO2 emissions.

The initial aim is for Twin Drive-equipped SEATs to run on electricity in urban areas and switch to conventional petrol or diesel power for longer trips.  So-called ‘plug-in’ hybrid propulsion is very much on the agenda for SEAT, as well as the eventual phasing out of the internal combustion engine from its line-up.

Chairman of SEAT’s board of directors, Francisco Garcia Sanz, said: ‘Halfway through the last century we made a decisive contribution to putting a whole generation on wheels.  Today, 50 years on, we also want to be leading players at the beginning of a process of development and industrialisation of this type of car.’