From development onto the big stage: May was all about the new Porsche 911

Fundamentally upgraded, the automotive world eagerly awaited the unveiling of the first Porsche 911 with hybrid drive. As we marked this extraordinary milestone, we also looked back on the unique history of this iconic sports car by talking to our developers of the eighth generation.

Continuing our commitment, Porsche Leipzig celebrated the start of electromobility and Porsche Motorsport continued its commitment to the all-electric Formula E.

Let’s dive right into this electrifying month.

The silhouette: iconic. The design: timeless. The technology: visionary.

Now, a new chapter begins for our sports car icon. For the first time in our icon’s 61-year history, we are installing a hybrid drive system into a roadgoing 911.

“We developed and tested a wide variety of ideas and approaches to arrive at the hybrid system that would suit the 911 perfectly. The result is a unique drive that fits into the overall concept of the 911 and significantly enhances its performance.” Frank Moser , Vice President Model Lines 911 and 718.

Inspired by motorsport: the innovative performance hybrid

For the new 911 Carrera GTS models, our engineers used knowledge gained from motor racing as the basis for designing the hybrid system. How it works:

• The lightweight and powerful T-Hybrid system has a newly developed electric exhaust gas turbocharger.
• An integrated electric motor, placed between the compressor and turbine wheel, instantaneously brings the turbocharger up to speed. This immediately builds up boost pressure.
• The powertrain includes a permanent magnet synchronous motor integrated into the more powerful eight-speed dual-clutch transmission (PDK).
• The heart of the T-Hybrid drive is a newly developed 3.6-litre boxer engine.

Let’s take a closer look at the numbers:

Want to dive into even more detail? Learn everything there is to know about the new Porsche 911 from Frank Moser :

Figure of the month:

7:16.934 minutes: Over the course of performance testing with the new Porsche 911, racing driver Joerg Bergmeister completed a lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7:16.934 minutes – 8.7 seconds faster than the corresponding version of the predecessor model.

Extensive trials  

From the freezing cold to scorching heat, as was the case during the final stages of testing in Dubai: we left nothing to chance during development and tested the new 911 under all sorts of conditions all over the world. The new 911 has mastered even the most difficult challenges with aplomb. All in all, our engineers and test drivers clocked up more than five million kilometres of development driving.

A look behind the development of the 911:

What about the 911 Carrera?

The 911 Carrera still features a 3.0-litre boxer engine with twin turbocharging. This engine, too, has been comprehensively revamped. Among other things, it has now adopted the intercooler from the Turbo models, which now sits directly under the rear lid grille, above the engine. With these modifications, we simultaneously achieve a reduction in emissions and a power boost to 290 kW (394 PS), along with maximum torque of 450 Nm.

You missed all the fun? We have you covered. Here you can watch the world premiere all over again:

Shortly before we unveiled the product upgrade for the 911, the developers and companions of our icon came together to talk about the various derivatives and their stories.

Each person had their own story to tell. For example, Matthias Kulla, who was lucky enough to drive a 964 Carrera RS as his first company car as a young designer. Or Tom Wieler, who could still remember what he wore to his job interview in Weissach and who skipped his own sister’s wedding so that he could go on his first ever prototype test drive. Mathias Roll on the other hand chose a 911 as his wedding car last year.

Their stories are more than just your average anecdotes. They are all told with eyes full of excitement and with no detail spared, as if they had only happened yesterday. Because they are stories full of passion and character.

This is also the secret as to why every derivative of the 911, however similar it may appear to another, is fundamentally different. 

Read more about it here: https://porsche.click/911SpeedDating

JOIN THE PORSCHE FAMILY: Interested in joining Porsche as part of our product development? Find all our current vacancies here: https://porsche.click/JobsDevelopment

Extension of Formula E commitment:

In line with the ongoing electrification, we extended our involvement in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. 

It was at the start of the 2019/2020 season, when we first joined Formula E. At that time, second-generation vehicles were fielded, now they are in their third generation – achieving up to 350 kW of power, a maximum recuperation of 600 kW and a top speed of over 300 km/h. The upcoming ‘GEN3 Evo’ significantly boosts performance before the next major technological step takes place with GEN4, which aims for a power output of up to 600 kW and a regenerative capacity of up to 700 kW.

GEN4 should allow us even more scope for development, from which we can then gain more insights for series production.

“The evolution of racing vehicles shows how much development potential there is in e-mobility. Going forward, we want to glean even more knowledge from Formula E that we can transfer to our roadgoing sports cars.” Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG

Want to know more about the strategic importance of Formula E for us? Find all information in this article: https://porsche.click/CommitmentFormulaE

Focus Story: Electromobility at Porsche Leipzig

In mid-May, Porsche Leipzig GmbH celebrated the official start of electromobility at its production site in Saxony. After investing around 600 million euros in recent years, we expanded the factory and designed it for maximum flexibility in the future.

Production of the new Macan is currently being ramped up - in the future petrol, hybrid and all-electric cars will be produced on a single production line.

“At Porsche we’re convinced that electromobility is the future. It is the joint task of business, politics and society to drive forward the transformation of mobility together.” Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board

Dive into our focus story: https://porsche.click/EMobilityLeipzig