The upcoming crop of next-generation hypercars is
jaw-dropping. The Mercedes-AMG Project One essentially will be a Formula One
car for the road, and the Aston Martin Valkyrie will pair a V-12 engine with a
hybrid drive system for a combined output of nearly 1,200 horsepower. But as
amazing as those cars look on paper, Porsche is confident it can do better.
In an interview with Australia’s Car
Sales, Stefan Weckbach, Porsche's head of EV projects, revealed that
Porsche’s 918 Spyder hypercar successor will be designed to outclass the best
from Mercedes and Aston Martin.
“All of those Porsche super and hypercars, they aim to be
the best in the market at the time. This is the target for the next one as
well,” he said.
In order to achieve that lofty goal, Porsche is receiving
some input from Rimac, the Croatian EV manufacturer that Porsche just upped its
ownership stake in to 15.5 percent. It’s no surprise that Porsche is planning
electric power for its next-generation hypercar as the 918 Spyder, which was
the king of the hypercar hill in its day, utilized a hybrid drivetrain.
What remains to be seen is if the next Porsche hypercar,
which could borrow its styling from the 917
concept, will be a hybrid or a pure electric. Markus Baumann, head of
Porsche’s boxer engine development, is not surprisingly in favor of a
gas-electric hybrid. Weckbach acknowledges that a hybrid might be the way to go
for Porsche’s next-generation of hypercar.
"If you look at 919 hybrid (race car), for example, it
was a very small V-4 engine, highly electrified. There's a big range of cars
that we could do and we need to have a sound internal discussion in order to
make sure the next supercar...is a benchmark as its predecessors (were),” he
said.
Whatever form the hypercar’s powertrain takes, it won’t have
solid state batteries. Weckbach notes that solid state battery tech is 7-10
years away from production viability, and Porsche hopes to have
its 918 follow up on the road by 2025.
by Drew Johnson
http://www.boscheuropean.com
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