While a plug-in version of the iconic 911 sports car would seem right in line with Porsche’s current slow-but-sure movement into the electrified-car market, it seems a wall-charging version of the Porsche sports car will remain out of reach for the foreseeable future. At least, that’s what Porsche 911 development boss August Achleitner says.
Achleitner broke the news to Car and Driver on Thursday, at an event celebrating the gorgeous green 911 Carrera S that marks the millionth example of the beloved sports car to roll off the production line. (We at The Drive assume, of course, that our invitation was lost in the mail.)
The hybrid 911 plans were reportedly still on track as recently as February according to a report from Autocar, which reported that the company was planning such a car for the year 2020 as part of the next-generation 911 family. But Achleitner reportedly told C/D that the plans had been killed last year, throwing that report into doubt. (C/D‘s report does seem to specify that the 911 boss was referring to a plug-in hybrid, so it’s possible that the carmaker is still working on a simpler mild hybrid. That would seem to go against the grain the company’s current trend when it comes to gas/electric vehicles, however.)
What killed the plug-in 911? Well, Achleitner told C/D that the added battery packs, electric motors, and other circuitry and paraphernalia associated with a hybrid car simply added too much weight for the compact two-door. (Even a comparatively heavy 911, like the Targa 4 GTS, weighs in at less than 3,600 pounds.) In addition, Achleitner said the hybrid tech would have made the sports car so expensive, the hybrid version wouldn’t have been able to come close to other 911 models in terms of how much money it makes—important if the brand wants to maintain those ridiculously-high profit margins on each car it sells.
While the specs of plug-in Porsches like the 918 Spyder and the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid do leave us wondering what a hybrid 911 could do, at the end of the day, any decision that pushes the company’s iconic sports car away from extra complexity and cost sounds positive to us. And given the way the world works…we’re sure there will be a plug-in Porsche 911 sooner or later.