Porsche working on hybrid 911 sportscar
BY JAMES STANFORD | 16th Sep 2009
The performance brand, which has just been absorbed into the Volkswagen Group, used its presentation at the Frankfurt motor show to signal a new era of green Porsche cars.
New Porsche president Michael Macht said the company wanted to build a hybrid race car and a hybrid 911, but went further to state that a full electric model should join the Porsche family.
“I am also convinced that one day Porsche will have an electric sportscar in its line up,” he said.
“Since this trend towards electric power is unstoppable, our engineers are already working hard on this challenge.” Mr Macht indicated that an electric-only Porsche was still some time away because the technology has not sufficiently advanced.
“So far, everything we have seen in this area has not been sufficient to meet our substantial demands, particularly when it comes to battery technology and charge cycles,” he said.
Mr Macht said Porsche wouldn’t push the button on an electric sportscar project until it passed some key tests.
“An electric car would therefore only make sense for Porsche if it offers performance and a cruising range similar to that of current sportscars in the market,” he said.
Porsche will introduce a hybrid version of its Cayenne four-wheel drive next year which will be followed by a hybrid version of the Panamera tourer to most likely go on sale in 2011.
Those cars will use Volkswagen Group hybrid technology. Now that Porsche is officially part of the new Volkswagen Group the company will have access to more hybrid technology and, crucially, access to the electric vehicle technology it plans to introduce in the next few years.
Porsche spokesman Michael Baumann told GoAuto the 911 hybrid would not employ the same hybrid system as the Cayenne and Panamera hybrids.
“There is an issue of weight,” he said. “Because it is in a sportscar it would have to be a different system. We are looking at all kind of possibilities.” Asked if Porsche would have trouble building an electric 911 that had the same character as the existing car, Mr Baumann agreed it would be tough.
“That is one of the big questions that is a question all manufacturers are facing, though,” he said. “One of the issues is the sound, what is the solution?” Porsche also used the Frankfurt show to present more traditional vehicles including the new 911 Turbo, 911 GT3 RS and the special edition Sport Classic.
