Hybrid to be fastest Porsche 911 of them all

The Porsche 911 is about to go from evergreen to ever greener – and faster – with a hybrid version under development that will be quicker and more powerful than even the vaunted Turbo S flagship.

Porsche will use the powerhouse hybrid as the pinnacle of the 911 range, just like it does with the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, as it moves to electrify every market segment it competes in.

Porsche chairman Oliver Blume yesterday confirmed it has no plans to abandon petrol power (like it did with diesels), but will push forward into every segment with a troika of pure combustion powertrains, hybrids and EVs.

“We will continue with high-performance petrol engines in our sports car for as long as possible,” Blume said.

“It is true, we are thinking about a hybrid drivetrain for the 911. The platform is already prepared.”

Porsche has used motorsport to earn experience with hybrid power, right from its flywheel hybrid 911 race car to its V4 hybrid LMP1 919 Hybrid that took three Le Mans 24 Hour wins.

“When we will bring a hybrid version for the 911 it has to be the best and the most performing one we put into this car,” Blume said.

“When we will introduce the hybrid we haven’t decided yet if it will be the top of everything [but] it’s technically possible,” he said.

Blume confirmed the 911 would remain true to the Panamera’s strategy, with a hybrid version becoming the range-topper for price and power.

“There’s no decision yet whether we will have a plug-in-hybrid, which has more weight but more range, or a solution like that in the 919 Hybrid race car,” he said.

“But in I think in three or four years we’ll be able to offer a hybrid of some sort in the 911.

“In this generation the Turbo S will be the most powerful but when we introduce the hybrid it could be an idea to make it that [the most powerful]. We can even call it the Turbo S [like with Panamera].”

But it’s not just the Porsche 911 that will fall under the spell of electrification, with Blume confirming Porsche is also considering what it do with the Cayman.

The question, he said, was whether or not to put the next Cayman/Boxster on a platform that could also cope with a full EV powertrain.

“The Boxster/Cayman might fit because of the mid-engine layout, but we have not decided,” Blume confirmed.

“It depends on the development of the markets and the needs of the customers. We will decide this year [whether to make an electric Boxster/Cayman].”

While Porsche’s long-term EV strategy has been built around the J1 (Taycan) and PPE EV architectures, Blume hinted that it might need a specialist electric sports car architecture as well.

“When we do an electric car it will be with a platform especially developed for an electric sports car,” Blume confirmed.

“When you use a car designed for a petrol engine it does not fit for the body. When you play in a segment like Porsche it has to be tailor-made for everything we do.”