Even if the Porsche 911 never becomes a full electric vehicle, the car will have to adopt some sort of electrification in order to meet fast approaching European emissions requirements. Even though the Taycan exists, and we’ve seen spy shots of other electrified Porsche models, here’s one of our first indicators that Porsche is electrifying its flagship.
Caught testing at the Nürburgring, it appears to be a bog standard Porsche 911 Turbo. But there is something unique about the car, and that on the rear window it is wearing a round yellow sticker. That sticker is a requirement for electrified vehicles, and a dead giveaway that there is more to this Porsche 911 Turbo than what meets the eye.
There is no plug on the outside of the vehicle for a PHEV powertrain, but that doesn’t meant that’s not what is being tested. We believe Porsche has adopted a 400 volt electrical system for the 911 Turbo, and hidden where the back seats would typically be are the lithium-ion batteries that add both performance and all-electric range. Being an early prototype, Porsche likely hasn’t developed an external plug-in charge port for the car, and it is charged by opening the passenger door or rolling down a window.
One other clue that there’s more going on in the back seats of this 911 is how dark the rear windows are tinted. The engineers in Germany don’t want our prying eyes peering inside.
Assuming that the 911 Turbo shown here has the Turbo’s flat six, then it makes 580 horsepower before electrification. The hybrid assist could easily put the car’s horsepower into the 700 horsepower range, and could even make the hybrid version of the car the peak performance model above the current Turbo S variant.
Will the hybrid appear as a 992 variant? It’s difficult to say. The 2030 emissions requirements will likely require the change to occur before then, but we might be in the next-generation 911 by that point. What we can say for sure is electrification is coming to all Porsche models—- more so now with the Rimac ownership — and that includes even the company’s iconic everyday supercar.