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NEWS
Porsche ponders hybrid 911
918 supercar technology and acceptance crucial to deciding powertrain future of sports carsPorsche’s global CEO Matthias Mueller has declared the upcoming 918 supercar (pictured) a referendum on whether the iconic 911 sports car will embrace hybrid power in its next generation.
Porsche has plug-in hybrid drivetrains rolling out in its front-engined models, the Panamera luxury liftback, the Cayenne SUV and forthcoming Macan compact SUV, but is still debating what to do with 911, as well as Cayman and Boxster.
The issue has been made all the more urgent by the European parliament’s approval this week of 95g CO2/km average fleet emissions to be introduced from 2020.
The 918 is Porsche’s first hybrid supercar, combining a 4.6-litre V8 engine and two electric motors to produce 653kW and up to 1275Nm. Set for its global launch at September’s Frankfurt motor show, just 918 will be built at a European price of 786,023 euros.
Only available in left-hand drive it won’t officially be sold in Australia, although at least two car enthusiasts are understood to have expressed strong interest in buying one.
The Ferrrai LaFerrari and McLaren P1 fighter use further developments of the plug-in hybrid technology launched in the Panamera S E-Hybrid which goes on-sale in Australia in November. The Cayenne gets the same plug-in technology in 2014 and it is also slated for Macan.
Speaking at the Panamera S E-Hybrid global media launch in Germany this week, Mueller confirmed hybrid’s spread into Porsche sports cars was now an important agenda item.
“The next step will be to have this [plug-in] technology in the Cayenne in the middle of next year and then we have to look for the Macan of course,” he told motoring.com.au. “And we have in this moment no decision what we will do with the 911 and the Boxster and the Cayman. That is a discussion we have to have.
“We will have the 918 at the end of the year and we will see how the customer likes such kind of engine in a super sports car and if this works then maybe we should decide to have all of this technology in the 911 in the next life cycle.”
And Cayman and Boxster as well?
“Of course,” he replied.
Fitting the additional weight and bulk of a plug-in hybrid system into Porsche’s sports cars has proved a challenge for the company’s engineers, given the traditional emphasis on light weight, compactness and balance.
Without hybrid they have consistently brought down the fuel consumption of the boxer six-cylinder-powered 911, Cayman and Boxster to the point a base model PDK dual clutch 911 Carrera uses a claimed combined average of just 8.2L/100km.
Mueller was bullish about the potential of hybrid systems going forward as part of Porsche’s drivetrain mix.
”What we have to recognise is that people will not know and understand what plug-in hybrid is, so it is very important to get customers in the cars to show them… It is not only a quantity of paperwork, they have to see that it works.”
Along the way Mueller couldn’t resist taking a shot across the bows of Ferrari and the LaFerrari. Unveiled at the Geneva show this year, it is a 700kW V12 petrol-electric hybrid $1.5m supercar of which just 499 examples will be built.
“We are convinced (the 918) is a better car than the Ferrari,” Mueller declared. “We did a lot of benchmarks and from our point of view our car is the better one.”
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Written byBruce Newton
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