DailyTech - $845k Porsche 918 Spyder Plug-in Hybrid Coming in 2013

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Gadgets $845k Porsche 918 Spyder Plug-in Hybrid Coming in 2013
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - March 21, 2011 11:01 AM

27 comment(s) - last by AntDX316.. on Mar 25 at 4:03 AM

Porsche 918 Spyder

Porsche 911 “Edition 918 Spyder"

Excuse me, I need to go buy a lottery ticket.

Porsche is making a lot of enthusiasts change their opinions about hybrids. Many think of the Prius and other stodgy (by enthusiast standard) hybrids that are all about economy with little thought towards performance. Porsche has changed that with several spectacular hybrid vehicles.

The coolest of all these hybrids was the Porsche 918 Spyder that debuted at the 2010 Geneva Motor show. The vehicle was so well received that Porsche has now announced that it is building the super car and Porsche dealers are taking orders for the cars right now. The 918 Spyder will be a plug-in hybrid and built in limited numbers.

The car will use a high-revving V8 with over 500hp combined with a pair of electric motors that will develop at least 218 additional horsepower for the car. Porsche also claims that the vehicle will consume 3L/100km on the New European Driving Cycle test. The EPA figures for the car will be announced near the end of 2013.

Only 918 of the cars will be made and they will all be built at the Porsche Stuggart-Zuffenhausen plant with construction set to start on the first of the vehicles on September 18, 2013. The cars will land on US shores towards the end of 2013. The price is a sphincter puckering $845,000 excluding detonation and handling.

The style of the car is almost identical to the concept car that debuted in Geneva. The difference is that the production version will be based on a carbon fiber reinforced plastic monocoque and will have a manual roof system with removable panels that can be stored in the front luggage compartment. Porsche is also offering the well-heeled 918 Spyder buyers the chance to own a special edition 911 Turbo S with deliveries to start later in 2011.

The special 911 will also be limited to 918 units and will be called the 911 Turbo S "Edition 918 Spyder". It will have design elements that echo the styling of the 918 Spyder. It will have all sorts of special touches and will be offered in coupe or cabrio forms for $160,700 or $172,100 respectively.

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strange

By Rasterman on 3/21/2011 11:43:19 AM , Rating: 2

Well they can't be selling it as having good MPG, because at $845k who the hell cares about MPG, so it must be performance based. It's hard to believe the extra weight of the motors and batteries would be a performance advantage over adding turbos or other technologies, perhaps they are storing braking energy in high performance caps to be used on acceleration out of the turns, like F1 will be doing. The article doesn't allude to this angle though due the inclusion of L/km figures.

RE: strange

By acpryor on 3/21/2011 12:18:19 PM , Rating: 2

Of course it's not marketing from an MPG perspective, like you mentioned, the price makes that argument irrelevant. The marketing is a combination of being "hip" to the hybrid thinking now days and ridiculous speed and handling. The thing does 0-60 in ~3 seconds, ~200 mph, etc... it's a true supercar while also being a hybrid... personally, I could care less about the hybrid part...
http://www.0-60mag.com/news/2010/08/porsche-918-sp...

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RE: strange

By tim851 on 3/21/2011 7:22:57 PM , Rating: 2

I think one will notice the hybrid part much more frequently then the 0-60 in ~3s or the 200 mph top speed, which most owners will rarely put to the test.

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RE: strange

By Azethoth on 3/21/2011 10:32:02 PM , Rating: 2

Meh, stick with a 1972 Datsun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Cf89tawZX8 (no gas just electric).

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RE: strange

By AntDX316 on 3/25/2011 4:03:39 AM , Rating: 2

*************************

I hardly look at the lottery thing or follow it but numerous numerous times it has reached 9 figures, and not only that it has went over 200 million a bunch of times

Honestly just winning 50 bucks in a scratch is amazing.. winning a couple thousand in the Casino is pretty amazing.. winning a million is just unbelievable, but winning that 1 million times 245 is just wtf!

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RE: strange

By FITCamaro on 3/21/2011 12:24:51 PM , Rating: 2

Well according to google 3L/100km = 78 mpg

I have a hard time believing that though.

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RE: strange

By Iaiken on 3/21/2011 12:40:00 PM , Rating: 2

I dunno... If you've watched the 911 GT3 R Hybrid (where this technology was developed), it's actually winning GT series races.

It is just as fast (if not faster) as the other cars out there and it doesn't have to pit nearly as much. The longer the race, the higher they climb in the standings because they need around one fewer pit stop for each 650km of race.

Also, there are no batteries... The KERS system that runs the electric motors was driven by a flywheel at last check.

I can't wait to see how the GT3 Hybrid does in the upcoming 24 hour races this year.

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RE: strange

By Iaiken on 3/21/2011 12:46:12 PM , Rating: 2

Sorry, looks like the street version will use liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery positioned behind the passenger cell.

The fly-wheel will be limited to the 918 RSR race car. A car that would look damned sexy in Gulf livery if I do say so myself.

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RE: strange

By FITCamaro on 3/21/2011 3:37:35 PM , Rating: 2

Unless the car can travel any real distance on that battery, there's no way a 500 hp engine, even with half the cylinders shut off, is going to get 78 mpg. Porsche's engines don't make big horsepower from smaller cubic inches because of their small camshafts. Big horsepower from small cubes comes from high lift, high duration camshafts at the expense of low rpm torque.

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RE: strange

By tng on 3/21/2011 12:54:05 PM , Rating: 2

I calculated it by hand from the figures in the article and got the same number. I had just as much of a hard time with it and did it again to see where I had screwed up and found that I didn't.

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RE: strange

By Iaiken on 3/21/2011 5:39:05 PM , Rating: 2

I did it by hand and I got:

3.8L to 1.003853798 USG
100KM to 62.1371192

62.1371192/1.003853798 = 61.89mpg (US)

Hate to say it... but I think Google is wrong on this count...

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RE: strange

By Iaiken on 3/21/2011 5:42:27 PM , Rating: 2

Whoops... tired and started with the wrong number... still curious how the EU test cycle works that they can achieve 78mpg.

Maybe they gun it till it runs out of fuel and then tow it the rest of the way with a burro?

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RE: strange

By tng on 3/21/2011 6:12:10 PM , Rating: 2

Maybe it just coasts really well?

Mystery to me... How do you get 78mpg out of something that has, what, 700HP? Maybe I have this whole hybrid thing wrong.... The faster and sexier they are the more economical they are? Or is it just the price?

Of course they could be playing with the numbers like GM did with the Volt, that got over 300mpg with some fancy number crunching.

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RE: strange

By Solandri on 3/21/2011 7:56:17 PM , Rating: 2

The mpg ratings are derived under specific situations, none of which will come anywhere close to tapping that 700 hp. In fact I'd be surprised if the engine had to output more than about 50 hp during those tests. That's how the Corvette can get 26 mpg despite having 430+ hp. It does not mean you'll get 26 mpg while the engine is producing 430 hp.

quote:
Of course they could be playing with the numbers like GM did with the Volt, that got over 300mpg with some fancy number crunching.

That's probably exactly what's going on. The new European driving cycle test seems to be a number of short (400 sec or less) driving scenarios.
http://www.dieselnet.com/standards/cycles/ece_eudc...

They probably started each one with the hybrid battery topped off, and based the L/100 km figure on the fuel consumed after cheating like that. The EPA test runs for considerably longer, so it'll be harder for Porsche to stack the deck in their favor.
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.s...

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RE: strange

By FITCamaro on 3/22/2011 7:44:23 AM , Rating: 2

Reading a bit more about the car, it seems it can go about a dozen miles near 100 mph on batteries alone. I'm sure that's how they got that figure. So if you take a quick drive to the store, no gas used. If you drive it any real distance though, that 500 hp V8 is going to kick on.

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By Rage187 on 3/21/2011 11:38:18 AM , Rating: 2

"The price is a sphincter puckering $845,000 excluding detonation and handling"

How much do I have to pay for it to now be blown up?

RE: ?

By Mitch101 on 3/21/2011 12:13:42 PM , Rating: 2

Wait for the government rebate program.

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RE: ?

By FITCamaro on 3/21/2011 12:20:29 PM , Rating: 2

Beat me to it.

If you can correctly answer Porsche's questions three upon delivery, they give you a code so that it does not explode.

The questions are:
What is your name?
What is your quest?
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

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RE: ?

By nick2000 on 3/21/2011 12:39:10 PM , Rating: 2

Is that for an African or a European swallow?

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RE: ?

By FITCamaro on 3/21/2011 3:31:51 PM , Rating: 2

/explode

Damn it.

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RE: ?

By Mitch101 on 3/21/2011 1:08:37 PM , Rating: 2

Here you go.
http://www.style.org/unladenswallow/

Bonus or Extra Credit
What is the capital of Assyria?
The four capitals of Assyria were Ashur (or Qalat Sherqat), Calah (or Nimrud), the short-lived Dur Sharrukin (or Khorsabad), and Nineveh.8 The ruins of all four ancient cities fall within the modern state of Iraq.

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