Car and Driver: Porsche Working on 911 Plug-in Hybrid, Not a Full EV

Porsche is working on a plug-in-hybrid version of the next-generation 911, but we’re told that a pure EV hasn’t moved beyond the planning stage. Instead, the only EV in Porsche’s near future is the production version of the Mission E concept the company has already announced it is building.

The company’s commitment to keeping six-cylinder engines at the heart of the 911 has led to the development of a part-electric powertrain capable of meeting increasingly tough fuel-economy and emissions standards around the world.

“We are working on different solutions,” Erhard Mössle, engineering boss for the 911 Turbo, Carrera 4, and Targa, told us at the Detroit auto show. “We are developing a pure-electric car like the Mission E, and of course we are discussing plug-in solutions as well for the 911.”

Indeed, doing more than just discussing, with Mössle confirming that we will almost certainly see a 911 with a plug, but not until the next-generation model arrives around 2020.

“I think that takes some time to bring to market, with the packaging problems of the car,” he said. “There are a lot of problems to solve before [then].”

Mössle also admitted that the need to accommodate both the size and the mass of a battery pack is one of the main drivers in the engineering of the next 911. “We are fighting hard,” he said, “especially as we are discussing plug-in hybrids, then there’s the battery weight.”

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However, despite reports elsewhere, Mössle downplayed the notion of a pure-electric 911: “When you saw the Mission E concept, delete two doors and you can imagine how such a car could look. But if that happens it’s very far in the future.”

Which is auto-industry executive-speak for “probably never.”

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