Porsche Clarifies Status of the Electric 911
Rumors of an electrified Porsche 911 have been circulating for months — and were eventually confirmed when CEO Oliver Blume claimed the forthcoming plug-in would be the “most powerful” version of the sports coupe the company has ever built. This, of course, stoked new rumors that automaker might decide to make the 911 a fully electric model.
Porsche wants to put those ideas down before they get out of hand. At the company’s annual results conference in Stuttgart, Blume clarified that the 911 would eventually yield a plug-in variant but would never be purely electric. While we advise all automakers to never say never, Porsche does seem to feel as if a battery only edition of the 911 is preposterous. The CEO even warned that the high-performance hybrid wouldn’t appear until some time after the 922 generation had already been in production. “We are waiting for the further evolution in battery technology so you should not expect a plug-in version in the coming years. It’s currently planned when the 992 is refreshed,” he said.
The next generation of the 911 isn’t slated to arrive until 2020, meaning any chance of a pure-EV model would require the automaker to chance its mind and then start development on what would likely be an entirely new car. But, according to Automotive News, that doesn’t mean Porsche hasn’t considered going full-battery on other models. The brand is still considering whether to build a full-electric version of its 718 Boxster and Cayman.
“We launched the 718 Boxster and Cayman in 2016,” Blume explained. “We are not yet at the point where we have to decide how things will progress,”
More electrification is assured, however. Porsche wants 25 percent of its global sales to be comprised of electrified models by 2025. The all-electric Mission E sedan launches next year but we’d expect the majority of that volume to come from hybridized versions of the Panamera and its popular SUV.
[Image: Porsche]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Caption to the illustration: "Even with the two-tone paint, it looks suspiciously like a New Beetle from here." "It does, and this windshield wiper blade is exactly the same, but costs four times as much to replace." "You're right, and from this perspective it also looks an awful like a New Beetle."
So in fully electric Porsche electric motor and battery will be in the rear. Otherwise it will not be a Porsche and will be not different from Tesla. Electric motor is the great equalizer. Eventually Porsche will be another autonomous pod with China made motor and battery like all other so called "cars".