Hybrid bettered the time of the conventional Carrera S at the Nürburgring Nordschleife by 8.7 seconds. Image: Porsche
Already ruled-out from going fully electric, Porsche has released the first teaser and indeed the reveal date of the first ever hybrid version of the 911.
The confirmation of an electrified powerunit made towards the end of last year, the tentatively called 911 Hybrid will reportedly feature a 48-volt mild-hybrid system as a means of offsetting the weight of a plug-in hybrid or conventional hybrid setup.
Denounced as far back as 2020 from ever going electric or indeed sporting any form of electrification, the electric hardware will reportedly be combined with a new 3.6-litre flat-six engine not offered since the 997 generation 911 bowed-out in 2013.
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In accordance with the claim from Car and Drive, the 3.6 will replace the current 3.8-litre turbo unit used in the Turbo and Turbo S, and initially premiere without the use of a turbocharger in the 911 GTS.
While set to continue, both the entry-level 3.0-litre turbo straight-six and normally aspirated 4.0-litre used in the GT3 and GT3 RS will, according to the publication, eventually depart in favour of the hybrid 3.6, although at present, this is open to speculation as no official confirmation has been made.
The hybrid system able to produce as much as 66 kW, the official teaser images released by Porsche doesn’t provide any information on the powerplant, though it does allege the setup being fitted not only to the GTS, but also the base Carrera or step-up Carrera S when closely scrutinising the pair of depicted models.
Shown testing in Abu Dhabi and at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, where it bettered the time of the Carrera S by 8.7 seconds, the inclusion of the hybrid system, according to 911 and 718 Line Boss Frank Moser, “makes the 911 even more dynamic”.
“We left nothing to chance during development and tested the new 911 under all sorts of conditions all over the world. From the freezing cold to scorching heat, as was the case during the final stages of testing in Dubai,” Moser said in a statement.
“Whether at a high drivetrain load in the demanding conditions of mountain passes or in the stop-and-go traffic of an urban environment, the new 911 has mastered even the most difficult challenges with aplomb. All in all, our engineers and test drivers clocked up more than five million kilometres of development driving”.
Penned-in for 28 May, expectations are that no further hints will be disclosed until now, meaning exact specification will be divulged on said date at the official unveiling in Stuttgart.
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