Porsche readying new engine and hybrid option for updated 911

Although denounced as recently as 2020, a new report from the United States has alleged that Porsche will be introducing a hybrid version of the 911 next year as part of a facelift to the current 992 generation.

U-turn

Largely left unchanged, sans the introduction of the Turbo and Turbo S, the GT3 and GT3 RS models, since its debut at the Los Angeles International Auto Show in November 2018, the updated 911 will carry the internal moniker 992.2 and go on-sale in mid-2024 with the option of a 48-volt mild-hybrid system instead of a plug-in hybrid system.

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Previewed with a hybrid setup in the guise of the previous generation 911 GT3 Hybrid R race car at the Geneva Motor Show in 2010, a road going equivalent has remained off limits despite reports suggesting an imminent arrival ever since.

“We have talked a lot about hybrids in the 911 over many years but have never brought one to the market because we have not solved the equation of package, space and weight.

“And everything I’ve seen so far has definitely not been convincing,” then Line Head for the 718 Boxster/Cayman, Frank-Steffen Walliser, told Autocar India three years ago.

Welcome back 3.6

In announcing the latest claims surrounding the hybrid, Car and Driver states that besides the incorporation of exterior and interior revisions, the 992.2 will herald the return of the 3.6-litre engine, a displacement last offered in the 997 generation 911 replaced by the 991 in 2013.

Reportedly earmarked for the GTS in normally aspirated configuration, the new flat-six will also replace the current 3.8 in the Turbo and Turbo S, and debut the 48-volt system initially only on the former.

While the current 3.0-litre turbo in the base Carrera, Carrera 4, Carrera S and Carrera 4S will continue, along with the 4.0-litre normally aspirated flat-six in the GT3 and GT3 RS, the publication claims both will eventually be phased-out and replaced by the hybridised 3.6.

It’s electric module producing as much as, according to the publication, 66 kW, the electrical hardware also boasts an erstwhile Formula 1-styled Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) that stores and then releases otherwise lost energy during braking inside the battery.

Don’t expect an EV

Most likely favoured over the plug-in hybrid system used on the Cayenne and Panamera as a result of space and weight, the hybrid 911 is unlikely to lead to an all-electric version before the end of the decade, a position that can be occupied by the next iteration Boxster/Cayman due on-sale in 2025.

As it stands, no further details surrounding the 992.2 are known, however, expect Porsche to start releasing first hints once into 2024.

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