Porsche ends 918 Spyder production

The last example of Porsche's 918 Spyder has rolled off the line.

Porsche produced the 918th and final version of its limited-edition plug-in hybrid hypercar at its main Zuffenhausen factory in Stuttgart after 21 months of production last week.

The German sports car maker said production of the 918, all examples of which were sold by the end of last year, went exactly to plan.

The majority were sold in the US, where 297 found homes, with about 100 going to both Germany and China, with strong demand also coming from the Middle East and UK.

First revealed at the 2010 Geneva motor show as a concept and then the 2013 Frankfurt show in production form, the spiritual successor for the Carrera GT hypercar entered production a few months later before first deliveries in March 2014.

By last October less than 100 of the left-hand drive roadsters remained unspoken for, despite an official price range of between €768,026 and €947,716 in Germany ($1.12-$1.38 million in Australia, where import and luxury car taxes would have brought the price to more than $2m).

The only 918 to grace Australian roads was owned by Porsche, which staged an 'E-Mobility' roadshow of its plug-in hybrid models earlier this year, when the 918 logged an unofficial Phillip Island lap record and hit 350km/h on Outback public roads north of Alice Springs.

The 918, which also set a production car lap record of 6:57 on the North Loop of the Nürburgring in September 2013, can drive for up to 30km at speeds of up to 150 km/h using only its twin electric motors that develop 210kW at 6500rpm in full-electric ‘E-Power‘ mode.

In ‘Race Hybrid‘ mode the electric motors work in conjunction with the car's motorsport-derived 4.6-litre V8 petrol engine, which cranks out 447kW at 8700rpm, to deliver maximum total power output of 652 kW at 8500rpm.

The result is a 2.8-second 0-100km/h sprint time, which can be lowered to 2.6 seconds with the optional Weissach performance package.

A version of the Porsche Intelligent Performance hybrid technology that powers the 918, which is claimed to return average fuel consumption of just 3.0L/100km, will power other plug-in Porsche sports cars, including the next-generation 911 Carrera 4S E-Hybrid.

Porsche says the 918 can convert far more kinetic energy into electrical energy than other hybrid vehicles because of its intelligent control of generator functionality and conventional brakes, delivering "enormous regenerative power" to boost efficiency and driving range.

A similar form of this recovery system is fitted to the LMP1 919 Hybrid prototypes that took Porsche to a historic one-two victory in the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hour last weekend.

Other advanced technologies pioneered in the 'rolling laboratory' include an all-carbon body, fully variable aerodynamics and adaptive rear axle steering.

Including the Panamera S E-Hybrid and Cayenne S E-Hybrid, which pair an electric motor with a 3.0-litre supercharged petrol V6, Porsche says it is the only manufacturer to offers three different plug-in hybrid luxury vehicles.

About 10 per cent of all Panamera and Cayenne models sold globally are now plug-in hybrids.

Hand built by about 100 staff in a fabrication facility constructed specifically for this purpose, Porsche says each 918 takes about 100 hours to assemble, including all quality controls.

That didn't stop the most expensive Porsche being the subject of a safety recall relating to its rear suspension in September 2014.

Porsche has previously confirmed it will produce a successor for the 918, which will be a hard act to follow.