Massive change coming to iconic car: 2025 Porsche 911 will use hybrid power to boost speed and performance

The pinnacle of sports cars, the Porsche 911, is going petrol-electric.

The famed German car maker announced it has been developing a hybrid 911, which would be the first in the car’s 61 year history according to Vice President Model Line 911 and 718 Frank Moser.

“This innovative performance hybrid makes the 911 even more dynamic. We left nothing to chance during development and tested the new 911 under all sorts of conditions all over the world.”

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Porsche is withholding all details of the car until its official reveal date on May 28.

We do know the hybrid set-up makes the 911 an even bigger animal on the track. Porsche completed a lap of the legendary Nurburgring track 8.7 seconds quicker than its predecessor with Porsche driver Jörg Bergmeister behind the wheel.

“The new 911 has become considerably faster on the track,” said Bergmeister. 

Porsche put the 911 hybrid through extreme weather testing.

“We have more grip, significantly more power, and the spontaneous response of the performance hybrid is a great advantage.” 

Porsche has clocked up more than five million kilometres of driving during testing. This takes in extreme hot and cold weather conditions, urban stop-start traffic and dynamic mountain pass roads.

Porsche hasn’t detailed the hybrid system, but it is likely to be a plugless set-up that can provide short periods of boost and power electrical applications.

It is possible Porsche could continue with a six-cylinder petrol engine in the 911 and add an electric motor and small capacity battery.

Reports from UK's Car magazine claim the KERS inspired technology will boost performance of the twin-turbo six-cylinder engine to about 354kW and 647Nm.

The hybrid tech is unlikely to have a big effect on emissions.

It appears a plug-in hybrid set-up is off the cards for now.

The 911 hybrid was quicker around the Nurburgring than the petrol version.

Supercar makers such as Ferrari, McLaren and Lamborghini have or are installing the plug-in hybrid technology in their vehicles to help boost performance and lower emissions.

Ferrari uses a combination of a twin-turbo V6 and electric motor in its new 296 GTB  that combine for a beefy 610kW.

Electric performance is in Porsche's future, it has committed to electrifying a big part of its range already.

The new Macan SUV due later this year will be all-electric and final orders for a petrol-powered version of the current model are about to close in Australia.

The Boxster and Cayman sports cars will also go electric, which leaves the large Cayenne SUV and 911 as the models to keep a combustion engine for now.