3/2/10

Porsche 918 Spyder Plug-In Hybrid Concept

Porsche-918-Spyder-Plug-In-Hybrid-Concept-10

Stuttgart debuts a do-all, mean, green machine.

With four other debuts planned for this year’s Geneva auto show, Porsche saved one surprise for just before the show opened. Behold the 918 Spyder concept, a radical Carrera GT–like supercar that employs Porsche’s latest take on enviro-firendly performance technology.

The Supercar of Tomorrow

Moving in the same direction as Ferrari with its 599 Hybrid concept, Porsche is laying its cards on the table with this dual-purpose supercar plug-in hybrid. Said to “combine high-tech racing features with electric mobility to offer a fascinating range of qualities,” the 918 Spyder concept borrows the mid-mounted 3.4-liter V-8 engine from the RS Spyder race car, singing a symphony of 500 hp up to a 9200-rpm redline. That covers the race portion of the equation, while electric motors found at both the front and rear axles that combine for an output of 218 hp handle the electric mobility. These motors, able to move the car on electric power alone, make the 918 a full hybrid, which Porsche claims has a range of 16 miles using the liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery found behind the passenger compartment. Porsche claims the concept is capable of hitting 62 mph in under 3.2 seconds, topping out at 198 mph, lapping the Nürburgring in 7 minutes and 30 seconds (faster than a Carrera GT), and achieving fuel economy of up to 78 mpg, but certainly not while laying down those figures.

Keep Reading: Porsche 918 Spyder Plug-In Hybrid Concept – Auto Shows

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