Porsche has previously said the 911 will be the last car in the world to lose its combustion engine, adding that a fully electric derivative won’t come until 2030 at the earliest. That’s not to say the peeps from Zuffenhausen are not working on a hybrid version of their iconic sports car, which will retain the flat-six gasoline engine, paired with an electric motor and a battery.
While this prototype may look like a regular 992-generation 911, the rear-engined coupe hides a secret behind the front seats. The reason why the rear windows are tinted is to conceal the battery pack mounted in the back, providing the electrified 911 with more oomph while enabling Porsche to meet increasingly stricter emissions regulations.
That might sound like a win-win scenario, but the added hardware will come with a weight penalty we can already notice while the test vehicle is being pushed through the corners of the Nordschleife. You can tell the legendary sports car is not as nimble as a standard 911 with the gasoline-only setup, but with this only being a work-in-progress vehicle, it’s best to reserve our final judgment for the production-ready car.
It might go by the full name of Porsche 911 Turbo S E-Hybrid and company officials have already revealed the electrified model will prioritize power and performance over efficiency. This statement gives us the impression it will be something along the lines of a “baby” 918 Spyder, especially since the firm’s boss Oliver Blume has promised it’ll be “the highest-performance 911 of all.”
To minimize the weight penalty, it will be a non-plug-in hybrid by featuring a smaller battery, therefore the purely electric range will be minimal. The added bulk could be partially offset by removing the rear seats since they’re already borderline useless in a standard 911. Aside from shaving off some of the fat, the rear seat delete might be necessary for packaging reasons to cram in the electric motor and battery pack.
It’s unclear when the 911 hybrid will come out as Porsche is working on a number of versions of its core sports car. Consequently, we wouldn’t hold our breath for an official reveal within the next year.
Source: CarSpyMedia / YouTube
