Porsche has avoided electrifying its 911 thus far, but a hybrid version of its iconic sports car isn’t far off.
Speaking to Motor Trend at the recent Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7, company executives confirmed Porsche is introducing hybrid variants of its upcoming 992.2-series 911.
While he didn’t give away any technical specifications, Frank Moser – Porsche’s vice president for the 911 and 718 model lines – did hint at the timing of electrified 911s.
“Now we are working on the next generation [992.2], which [arrives] about the middle of the decade,” he said.
“We have developed the hybrid, a performance hybrid of the 911, and that’s about in the middle of the decade—the next generation of the 992.”
When speaking to the American outlet, Mr Moser would only go so far as to say that the first hybridised 911 is “maybe two years” away, suggesting we’ll have to wait longer for that model as it’s possible other 992.2 models could debut sooner.
Despite the growing pressure on carmakers to introduce electrification into their line-ups, Michael Steiner, Porsche board member for development, affirmed Porsche’s commitment to pure combustion-powered 911s.
“The 911 will be, definitely, if at all, the last [Porsche] that will be electrified,” he said.
“The 911 should not get too heavy. So this is the reason we look more for performance-oriented solutions, and we have other cars for people who would like more electrification. We don’t see the need to just convert our icon [the 911] into an electric car that has disadvantages [in terms of overall performance].”
Electrified 911s have been spied testing, including a particularly racy-looking version spied in September that potentially points to Porsche offering a hybrid powertrain in higher-performance versions.
While there’s still no word on a pure-electric 911, Porsche will introduce an electric replacement for its current 718 Boxster and Cayman.
While the next-generation 983-series Boxster and Caymans will be fully electric sports cars, Mr Steiner said that due to high demand, in some markets the current petrol-powered 982-series cars will continue to be sold alongside the new EVs.
When asked about what sound the new electric sports cars will make, Mr Moser gave somewhat of a puzzling reponse.
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Next-generation 718 -
“We have good guys [working on it], they know how to develop a good soundtrack,” he said. “You know [a bit] from the Taycan, [but] what is a typical electric Porsche sound? We never had one before. [Everyone] knows the sound from a flat-six, and therefore it’s difficult [to find something appropriate for a Porsche EV].
“From my opinion, driving an EV, you hear nothing—and that’s great. So you remember you are sitting in a Boxster, electrified, and you hear nothing. You have a totally dynamic car that is agile, you hear nothing. I think that’s really good.”
“We are working on the kind of sound which suits the brand, to the different models,” he said, reportedly trying to reassure the crowd. “But for me the sound is not the No. 1 goal.”
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