Porsche 911 line boss switches all-electric possibility off

An all-electric version of the Porsche 911 is unlikely to happen anytime soon as a hybrid will likely be the closest it will come to electrification. This, according to the 911 and 718 Boxster/Cayman’s model line’s Vice-President, Frank-Steffen Walliser, who told Australian media that certain aspects of the 911 needs to remain no matter what.

“We can do an electric sports car, but I do not intend on making an electric 911. A hybrid might be possible – but it should be a hybrid that fits the character of a 911,” Walliser was quoted by carsguide.com.au as saying, before also ruling out a plug-in hybrid drivetrain as it would simply be too heavy for a 911.

“For enthusiasts, this has to be emotional. Hearing something, feeling, tasting, is important. The more you can touch all of those emotions, the better it will be to drive. We want to keep six cylinders for sure, but we will have to make a new engine,” he said of the incoming and more stringent Euro 7 emissions regulations.

In similar comments made last year, GT division boss, Andreas Preuninger, remarked that electrification is “not something we think about at the moment” when it comes to the GT2 and GT3, despite Stuttgart’s campaigning of a hybrid GT3 racecar at the  Nürburgring 24 hours in 2011.

“If we would decide to make all the racing cars electrified overnight, then we would have a reason to look into that but, as always, it has to be a connection between the cars we use on the track to the cars we sell with a numberplate attached,” Preuninger told Britain’s Autocar.

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