The radical concept from Porsche, the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid is going to be built as a limited production model, as declared by Porsche. The concept car had been displayed by Porsche at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show that was held earlier in the year.
In a statement made on Wednesday Porsche said, “Reflecting the overwhelming response from the public and customers to the Concept Study, the Supervisory Board gave Porsche’s Board of Management the mission to develop a production model based on the car already presented.”
Porsche had required a minimum of 1,000 orders in order for the concept to progress into a production stage. Bloomberg reports that by the first week of July there were some 2,000 odd individual customers who had indicated their interest for the hybrid supercar.
Michael Macht, the President as also Chairman of the Board of Management of Porsche AG mentioned “Production of the 918 Spyder in a limited series proves that we are taking the right approach with Porsche Intelligent Performance featuring the combination of supreme performance and efficient drivetrain concepts. We will develop the 918 Spyder in Weissach and assemble it in Zuffenhausen. This is also a very important commitment to Germany as a manufacturing base.”
It was a mid engine two seater version of the 918 Spyder that had a plug-in hybrid drivetrain that the concept car featured. The 3.4 liter V8 engine was mid-mounted delivering 500 hp. The electric motor on their part was mounted on the front and rear axle giving a total power of 218 hp.
As per company specification the fuel economy is 78 mpg in the hybrid version which translates to a requirement of just 3 liters for every 100 km. The CO2 emissions would be 79 g/km and acceleration of 0 to 100 kmph (62 mph) is achieved in 3.2 seconds. The top speed of the car is 320 kmph that is 198 mph, which is greater than the top speed figures of the Carrera GT.
The price tag of around $630,000 and the date of production have not yet been officially confirmed by Porsche.
Source: carscoop
