Porsche confirmed this week that the next 718 Boxster and Cayman would be reborn as pure EVs for 2025, but the 911 is taking a much slower route to electrification.
A fully-electric 911 isn’t expected before 2030, but to help the iconic two-plus-two stay relevant Porsche is working on hybrid versions that will appear by the second half of the decade.
Porsche uses yellow circular stickers in the front and rear windshields of its cars to tell emergency crews that the cars are hybrid-powered and so far we’ve seen both Turbo and Carrera prototypes wearing the little tell-tales. The narrower arches and smaller flip-up spoiler worn by the car in these latest images from the Nurburgring tells us this is a regular 911.
You can ignore the funny boggle-eye lamps bolted to the side of the disguised front bumper, but the revised air intakes and grille vanes will be key to helping you tell the 2024 model from the current 992 released in late 2018. Expect similar bumper- and lamp-related tweaks at the rear, too.
Though the front bumper design suggests this car is a humble Carrera or Carrera S, the rear license plate has moved from the lower section of the bumper where it sits on the base cars, to mid-bumper level, where you’ll find it on the current GTS. And the two tailpipes have moved to the center giving the rear of the car a more aggressive look.
We can’t see the interior in these latest shots, but can be certain that the 911 will get a slick full-width digital gauge cluster like the one in the Taycan EV that will give driver’s more leeway when it comes to configuring what info is shown, and where.
Though we know Porsche will offer hybrid-assisted flat-six engines in its next 911, details are sketchy on the exact powertrain spec. We do know that the first electrified 911s won’t be PHEVs but self-charging hybrids. But as to where Porsche will package the battery, what drive- and transmission choices hybrid buyers will get, and how big the combustion engine will be, the company is playing its cards close to its chest.
Currently, only the GT3 and GTR RS versions of the 911 uses naturally aspirated engines, every other model getting some kind of turbocharged six. But rumors from Germany suggest non-GT cars might get 4.0-liter naturally aspirated power, perhaps from the Cayman GT4, which (unlike its GT4 RS brother) uses an engine unrelated to the one in the GT3.
Are you excited about the 911 going hybrid or should Porsche just jump straight to a full EV? Leave a comment and let us know.
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Photo Credits S. Baldauf/SB-Medien for CarScoops
Keyword: Electrified 2024 Porsche 911 Hybrid Caught Charging Hard At The Nurburgring