SPY PICS: Porsche 911 Turbo S E-Hybrid

The first electrified Porsche 911 appears to be one step closer to reality, if these freshly-captured spy images are any guide.

And the long-awaited introduction of hybrid technology for Porsche’s most iconic model now appears certain to arrive in a classic top-down strategy led by a model likely to be called the Porsche 911 Turbo S E-Hybrid.

Porsche has been considering the development of a hybridised Porsche 911 since at least 2013; since then it has employed the technology to great effect in other models such as the Cayenne and Panamera.

With the launch of the 992-generation 911 in 2019, Porsche confirmed it had allocated space for a disc-shaped electric motor to be wedged inside the 911’s gearbox casing.

Now, images of a two-seater 911 prototype lapping Germany’s Nurburgring confirm the petrol-electric 911 isn’t far away, most likely in the form of a Turbo S E-Hybrid flagship.

Although it looks like a garden-variety 911 Turbo from afar, glance closely and you can see the prototype’s rear and side windows have been blacked out.

Our spies say this is because Porsche was concealing batteries in the space where you’d usually find the 911’s two rear seats.

Another tell-tale is the yellow sticker at the top left-hand corner of the prototype’s windscreen, which designates the test vehicle as using a hybrid drivetrain.

There’s no sign of a charging port, but the petrol-electric 911 is expected to be a plug-in hybrid like existing E-Hybrid versions of the Panamera and Cayenne, albeit the first with a flat-six boxer engine.

In 2018, Porsche predicted a four-year timeline for the rollout of a hybrid 911. August Achleitner, the 911’s vehicle line director, said the then-new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission adapted from the Panamera was ready to house an electric motor.

“If you take the PDK gearbox out of the car and look into the gearbox, you will see a place where there is nothing. This gearbox is prepared to adapt to an electric motor, maybe later,” he revealed.

“It allows us to develop this car further to a hybrid version. We won’t do it right now because of battery reasons and some other things, but this car is being readied for a hybrid solution.”

As for when, Achleitner said: “Let me say, it will be at least four years”.

That would take us to 2022.

Separately, Porsche chief Oliver Blume has confirmed Porsche has no intentions to abandon petrol power for the 911, but will push ahead with a multi-powertrain strategy.

“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.”

Going hybrid could pose another massive jolt for dyed-in-the-wool 911 purists, who have watched the rear-engined two-door evolve from air-cooling to water-cooling and then turbocharging across the range, as well as swapping from hydraulic to electric power steering.

However, cynics can take some comfort in the fact the new 911 hybrid is likely to be the fastest of the critically-acclaimed 992-generation.

“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.”

The first 911 hybrid breaks cover as car-makers continue to double-down on EV technology to meet strict new emissions laws proposed in Europe, where petrol, diesel and even plug-in hybrid vehicles could effectively be banned by 2035.

Just last week, Mercedes-Benz was the latest German car-maker to declare it will offer an EV version of every model in its range by 2025.