First came the Porsche 911 Turbo, a lone warrior among a range of naturally aspirated Carrera sports cars. This year, turbocharging came to every 911 not wearing a GT3 badge. Soon, Porsche will introduce its first electrically assisted 911. Any wagers that every Carrera will embrace electrification sometime after that?
We’ll save the guesswork for another time. Today, the only sure thing is that a Porsche 911 will benefit from (or be tainted by, depending on your point of view) electrification. In a recent interview with Autocar, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume was kind enough to let slip that this won’t just be an also-ran 911, but rather the most powerful production version ever released.
“The 911 plug-in must be a very strong performing car. It will be the most powerful 911 we’ve ever had; 700 horsepower might be possible,” he shared.
For it to truly be the most powerful 911, it would have to exceed 700 hp — the current output of the Porsche 911 GT2 RS. That shouldn’t be too much trouble, though, since any electric boost on top of the GT2 RS’ twin-turbocharged six-cylinder will yield more thrust. Autocar estimates the new model will use an electric motor good for 136 hp. The “Porsche 911 Turbo S E-Hybrid,” as it will likely be named, will also borrow technology from the Porsche 918 Spyder.
Blume also mentioned the car would use “a special button for the electric punch.” That sounds like the push-to-pass button used in motorsports. We expect the plug-in 911 to be quicker to 60 mph than the Porsche 911 Turbo S (2.8 seconds) and may even match the GT2 RS’ top speed of 205 mph.
Insane performance numbers aren’t likely to sway the hearts of traditionalist 911 fans, but they should convince the rest of the world that Porsche hasn’t lost its mojo. No one believed Porsche should or could build an SUV years ago, but the Cayenne soon erased skepticism.
The fact that Porsche has started to open up about the electrified 911 suggests it will be revealed soon — perhaps even this year at the Paris Motor Show.
