The Porsche 911 may not have changed a ton in several decades, but a significant change is coming to its iconic rear-mounted engine. Porsche recently confirmed that it is working on a hybrid option for the 911, which will arrive mid-decade with the next-generation 992 cars.
Porsche company executives told Motortrend that the hybrid 911 is just a year or two away. That could indicate that they would arrive after the initial 992.2 introduction, and the powertrain might be withheld for the rowdiest variants, such as a Turbo S.
The move to electrify the 911 is significant, as it represents the last holdout in Porsche’s lineup to pick up the technology. Company engineers have fretted over the car’s weight and have so far found acceptable performance solutions that don’t involve adding heavy batteries to the mix. The 911 will be Porsche’s last model electrified, so the company is obsessed with getting it right.
While Porsche purists won’t be stoked about this development (they aren’t stoked about much), it will likely bring even more performance and acceleration to the 911 line. Automakers have figured out how to add electric power with a focus on power instead of the efficiency-first approach many mainstream brands take. That means the electric motors supplement the powertrain’s performance instead of acting only as a stop-gap to save fuel.
[Image: Porsche]
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