Porsche Says No Way to Hybrid Sports Cars
Porsche will not build hybrid versions of the 911 and Boxster, according to CEO Michael Macht.
While the company will make a hybrid Cayenne, they have no interest in altering their sports car lineup. Enthusiasts can now breathe a sigh of relief. The Cayenne SUV and the 4-door Panamera have been a sore subject amongst Porsche purists.
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“It’s technically possible but it’s not part of the plan. It also adds weight,” he said. “We want brake regeneraton and stop-start for our sports cars, but not hybrid. They’re not driven in the city, where you get most of the advantages [of a hybrid].”
Porsche has responded to the SUV/4-door backlash by saying the profits from such cars allows them to produce niche vehicles like the GT3. It’s been a hard pill to swallow but enthusiasts have forgiven them…until news leaked of a hybrid 911. But the fact is, without those mass production models towing the line, exclusive offerings wouldn’t be viable.
“There are some efforts to make a pure electric supercar,” he said, “but if Porsche is going to do that it must have the same performance and the same range as now. We want to make cars you can drive every day.”
However, they are considering a fully-electric version of the 911. But Macht added that Porsche doesn’t think the performance and safety of lithium ion batteries is yet good enough to use in an electric car or a hybrid.
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Source: AllCarsElectric.com
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January 20th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Well the reason that EV’s came into inception was to help ease the world of global warming.It’s great of most car companies to try to come up with hybrid versions. I think the reason why Porsche isn’t warming up to the idea of hybrids for their sports car line-up, is because of the demands of their clients. A small percentage of people who find the need for speed,like the race car enthusiasts, and the rich and famous clientele for whatever purpose it may serve them, and not taking into consideration the dangers of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, contributing to the recent astounding global warming.
January 20th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Yeah, I own a Porsche and am not surprised by the reaction from their ‘clientele’.
The folks who post on the two Porsche forums I read are rabid anti-environmentalists and anti-regulation. Mention reducing oil imports or emissions and they go twitchy and froth at the mouth.
I stopped driving my Porsche every day and ride a bike to work most days. When I do drive it I enjoy it that much more.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
April,
Perhaps you haven’t heard but the world is now cooler than it was in 1998 and the data used to prove “Global Warming” has been placed under scrutiny for “fudging”.
There have been predictions that we are now in a cooling period that will last for up to and possibly longer than 30 years.
January 21st, 2010 at 8:56 am
Chuck,
If that’s true, how do you explain the huge chunks of icebergs floating out to sea?
“It has an area equating to 87 square miles – roughly double the size of Sydney Harbour. ”
I got the quote from this link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/6768364/Giant-iceberg-heading-for-Australia.html
I have seen your comments on this site and I’m getting the impression that you are just not warming up to the idea of EV’s or hybrid cars.Is this a personal vendetta or do you just simply love the highly priced gasoline and its harmful effects not only to the environment but also to the health of humanity???
Don’t get me wrong, but that’s how you sound…and may I ask you, where are you getting your data from?
Hope you can shed some light about your mind-boggling opinion because you got me baffled as well.:-{
January 24th, 2010 at 1:18 pm
I can care less about Global Warming but the fact is that gasoline is not renewable. I have only warm up to idea of EV’s or hybrid because of high gas prices of 2008 .