Porsche 911 EV Electric Performance in a Legendary Sports Car
BEV: Battery electric vehicle.
Kilowatt (kW): The unit of measure for power level. In BEV terms, it is the level of power at which your vehicle can charge.
Kilowatt hour (kWh): The unit of measure for energy storage. It indicates the capacity of the battery.
Volt: The electrical potential or performance of the electrical system, which ultimately influences the charging speed. Like water running through a hose, the higher the volts the greater the pressure, the faster the charge.
Ampere or Amp: The unit of electrical current, meaning how much energy travels through a circuit. Keeping with the hose analogy, then amps is the diameter of the hose.
Amp x Volts = Power 40 amps x 240 volts = 9,600 watts or 9.6kW
State of Charge (SoC): The term used to show how charged the battery is in percent.
ICE Internal Combustion Engine
Detailed: How the Porsche 911 will become an electric sports car
A hybrid 911 (code 994) will be the first step to electrification for Porsches iconic sports car, followed by the full-electric 998-gen car before the end of the decade. Porsches plan for the 911s electrication is a bold transformation strategy with plenty of imponderables.
Like which type of battery to use, how to package it, and what shape to choose for minimum drag with maximum 911-ness. This story is a work in progress progress that began in the last decade.
While we tapped a variety of sources to shed light on the means and the end, a lot can change between now and 2028. But the wheels are in motion. As Michael Steiner, Porsches R&D boss puts it: Deciding too early can be wrong. But deciding too late is always a mistake.
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Current Porsche 911
2018: The rst clues
A decade prior to its tentative due date, a mysterious red dot marked 998 made its rst appearance on the top-secret product-cycle plan at Porsches Stuttgart HQ. This at a time when the company was making nal preparations for the launch of the eighth-generation 911 (codenamed 992 and complete with mount points on the new gearbox for an e-motor) and the second Macan facelift.
Even though the combustion engine was under pressure from increasingly strict emissions controls and growing social acceptance issues, European EV sales were still in single-digit percentages; the Taycan still more than a year away.
2021: If Porsche can make an electric racer
Three years on from its rst appearance on the product plan, the 998 is still there. This far out from the start of production, the cycle plan normally shows white and green clouds to underline the provisional character of the project. The 998, however, appears to be a solid program with no asterisks or comment attached.
But theres also no official conrmation; in fact, when I steer the conversation toward that still-classied three-digit code at the IAA auto show in Munich, Dr Steiner is not amused.
But lift your eyes from secret documents to gaze at the Mission R show car, and you grasp Porsches condence in its electrication capabilities.
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2022-27: The transformation
The Taycan is a huge success, its 19,822 sales in the rst half of 2021 neck-and neck with the 911s. Next well see Porsche start to transform its familiar nameplates from combustion engines to fully electric.
First up is the Macan, Porsches biggest-selling car. The new electric-only version will be a 2023 model, Porsche has conrmed. Therell be a transition period while the new EV is sold alongside the current combustion model. Were expecting the electric Cayman and Cayenne to follow in 2024, and the Panamera in 2027 at the latest.
The Taycan could be ready for a switch from the MK1s J1 architecture to the groups SSP platform in 2026. Expect a large super-Cayenne crossover around the same time, which shares its DNA with the Audi Grandsphere and a Bentley.
These EVs will help Porsche towards its aim of CO2 neutrality by 2030 while also providing valuable data for the 998 project.
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2025: Next-gen batteries
The batteries are critical to the whole project. Even the Mission Rs sophisticated high-performance cells may not be progressive enough for the second half of the decade.
Thats when American rm Quantum-Scape hopes to deliver the Holy Grail: the very rst high-performance solid-state energy cells. Exactly when QuantumScape can deliver its dedicated power banks is another matter.
In an ideal world, hands-on work with the supercells would begin in 2025 at the latest.
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Key assets of the multi-dozen-layer cells are claimed to include an 80 percent range extension over lithium-ion, greater stability and a dramatically faster six-minute charge time from ve to 80 percent. The supplier community tells us that the Porsche specification emphasises exible packaging for optimised weight distribution and space utilisation, as well as efficiency and recharging robustness.
And where exactly would these batteries go? Has Porsche built a prototype 911 with its rear-mounted at-six substituted for a battery?
R&D man Steiner: In CAD, yes; but there was never a prototype like that too many problems [with safety; batteries need to be within the wheelbase]. We would not like to see this on the road with todays technology. But we could split the battery, with a T-shaped layout; big battery pack behind the seats and the rest in a corridor between them.
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2026: The hybrid
The only combustion-engined Porsche thats not part of the mid-decade switch is the 911. Expect the next-gen 994s design to be frozen in Q3 2025, and production to begin at the end of 2026.
Powered by a hybrid (but not plug-in) plus petrol engine, the at-six is likely to rise from 3.0 to 3.4 litres not in pursuit of higher performance, but to compensate for the muffling effects of EU7 emissions regs.
A plug-in hybrid would mean more weight, less space, increased complexity and dynamic compromises. Porsches solution adds slugs of additional grunt to beef up the low- to mid-rev performance. We hear the compact e-boost system will throw in an extra 200kW for a total output of around 600kW.
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Porsche e-hybrid charger
Once the 994s design is set, the same team will switch to nalising the 998, a car that will pose some big challenges for the engineers and designers who must dene it.
Or will it? Perhaps an electric 911 designs itself Head of design Michael Mauer told Wheels: The silhouette of todays 911 is so iconic. That has to stay, as we have proved over the years the new 911 is always a 911; just a new one. Listening to the engineers now, when we talk about combustion engines, there are many packaging complications and limitations. Electric technology brings more freedom but yes, the Cayman and Boxster are mid-engined and the 911 is rear-engined, and we have to make sure these cars are differentiated. We can make it work.
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Current 992 Porsche 911
2028: They said it couldnt be done
The date may shift a little. Something might change in the wider world of emissions regulations, battery supply, charging networks and indeed global pandemics. But if all goes to plan, as we understand it, then in 2028 the 998 the 100 percent electric 911 will arrive.
Developed from scratch, designed with the past, present and future in mind and pace-setting in terms of drivetrain and batteries, it promises to be a revolutionary concept wrapped in an evolutionary skin. Can we expect a car a little like a larger and more potent Cayman EV derivative? Or something on a new architecture conceived around SSP, the VW Groups performance EV platform?
All these ideas are in the mix. The Weissach grapevine reports that the scalable platform principle will be complemented by bespoke modules. There could be two different underbodies, shaped for more and less ground effect, and interchangeable uppers dening the character and style of the individual models. Think Spyder, Speedster, Sahara, Sportster
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The challenges are vast, not least because the e-drivetrain will occupy more space than a combustion engine and its fuel tank. Then theres the battery-induced weight disadvantage But Porsche has shown a formidable ability to rise to challenges.
A real sports car has to perform on the racetrack, and there the cars lateral capabilities [its ability to hustle corners] are at least as important as longitudinal [its acceleration]. Maybe even more important, muses Dr Steiner. When electric cars become superior to combustion-engined cars and this will happen by the end of the decade then there will be more and more customers willing to switch concepts.
When that time comes, the 911 will be ready.
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Porsches big synthetic fuel bet
Porsches engines will keep running for a good few years yet, helped by a Porsche/Siemens project to produce synthetic fuel which they call eFuel that isnt based on fossils and produces negligible CO2. Work has begun on a plant in Chile that, by 2030, will produce 550 million litres of eFuel a year.
Initially it will be used in the Porsche Supercup race series, and at Porsche Experience Centres. It might be made available to other manufacturers, and even F1 depending on the details of a distribution system yet to be mapped out. Chile is particularly well-suited to the creation of eFuel thanks to its strong, consistent winds, which provide a CO2-neutral way of powering the process in which usable hydrogen is extracted from water for conversion into fuel.
But dont think this means a long-term reprieve for combustion engines. Michael Steiner, Porsches R&D chief, says: Our main strategy is e-mobility, but to be CO2-neutral by 2030 we need additional measures. We see this as an important additional measure and as a role model that could be feasible for on-road, off-road transportation, but also shipping, maybe aviation. This is no competition to e-mobility. Wherever you have renewable electricity in the grid, its always more efficient to just drive with this electricity.
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E-Cayman: the curtain-raiser
As detailed previously, its the Cayman that will be Porsches first electrified two-door, and key parts of its powertrain technology will flow through to the 911 application. While exact details are yet to be confirmed, the Cayman EV is expected to arrive in 2023, and its powertrain will be heavily influenced by that fitted to the Mission R concept revealed earlier this year at the Munich motorshow. Mission R can deliver a consistent 500kW via a 320kW motor on the front axle, and a 480kW unit at the rear. Ultra-fast 900v charging also features.
2025 Porsche 718 EV will be the Company's First-Ever Fully-Electric 2-Seater Sports Car
The Porsche Cayenne was not the brands first ever electric vehicle as some online claims state, but the 2025 Porsche 718 will be the marques first two-seater EV sports car, replacing the fuel-burning Boxster and Cayman 718 models.
Contrary to popular belief, the very first Porsche-built vehicle was battery powered. Porsche technically entered the electric car making realm in in 1898 when Ferdinand Porsche designed the Egger-Lohner electric vehicle C.2 Phaeton model, also known as the P1. Well before he founded the Porsche company in 1931, 22-year-old Ferdinand Porsche designed the P1 car for carmaker Jacob Lohner. The P1 hit the streets of Vienna, Austria, on June 26, 1898. It could reach 21 mph and drove up to 49 miles on a single charge.
The plastic placeholders show the original P1 design, displayed at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany.Porsche
Considering Porsches history in EVs, which began long before emissions standards existed, let alone increased to the point of threatening the internal combustion engine in trade for electric vehicles, the gravitation toward offering a factory production sport coupe is only natural. Speculations insist that the 2025 Porsche 718 will not disappoint.
We are stepping up our electric offensive with another model. By the middle of the decade, we want to offer our mid-engine 718 sports car exclusively in an all-electric form, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume said.
The new 718 EV design has not yet been released, but Porsches Mission R race car concept, which features a Cayman-like body and a 900-volt battery could be the closest representation at this time.
Porsches Mission R race car concept could give clues to what the 718 EV will look like.Porsche
According to a report from Car and Driver, the 718 EV will be all-new with nothing carrying over from the prior naturally aspirated model, aside from Porsches legendary performance and handling capabilities. The model will be built on the Volkswagen Group's PPE platform and is expected to be just as well-balanced with the battery being mounted near the firewall where the engine used to reside. Fast-charging is expected, assisted by 900-volt electrical architecture.
The EV sports cars targeted weight is 3,650 pounds, light for a battery-powered vehicle. Car and Driver says to expect the base model to be powered be a single motor offering at least 450-horsepower to the rear wheels, with a second motor available later on to drive the front wheels, transforming the 718 into an all-wheel-drive monster. There could even be a 1,000-plus horsepower model on the horizon.
The success of the 2025 718 EV could determine the direction that Porsche takes with its future electric sports cars. So far, theres no news of a battery-powered Porsche 911, but a hybrid version will likely make its rounds.
In the meantime, the 718 EV is expected to be available for sale in fall 2024 with a price tag of approximately $15k more than the current 718 base model. Prices could start at around $80,000 go up with the usual ample availability of factory options.
