Remember that $980,000 electric sports car we told you about back in April? It definitely isn’t the only luxury green car competing for the wallets of the green rich set.
Word has come down from old guard luxury brand Porsche that its 918 Spyder hybrid is in the next development phase, sporting a hefty $845,000 price tag.
We’ve reported on the Porsche 918 Spyder before, noting at the time a limited run of 918 production units of this hybrid would be built for those with deep pockets.
Production is said now to be planned for September 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported, for a car that mates a 570-hp, 4.6 litre V8 engine with two electric motors – one each on the front and rear axles – for a combined 770 hp. This car definitely won’t be a slouch with that kind of green power under the hood.
Porsche notes this parallel full hybrid will have a top speed around 200 MPH, also being capable of hitting around 90 MPH in electric mode only.
Acceleration from 0 to 60 is under a mere three seconds, and for those wanting to drive the Spyder in electric mode only, the car has a short range of around 15 miles. The battery of this vehicle is lithium-ion and will include regenerative braking as a solution to help extend the electric only range.
According to the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), the 918 Spyder consumes 3.0L/100km of fuel, or less than 1 gallon of gas per roughly 78 miles. Official EPA fuel economy data is expected just before the car arrives to U.S. customers.
The version of the 918 Spyder Porsche was recently showing off, according to the automaker, has markings which herald back to its historical 917 racing cars and look to ” signal the final touches” of its design.
This plug-in hybrid also includes other high value functions in its DNA, including a ” full carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) monocoque with unit carrier, fully adaptive aerodynamics, adaptive rear-axle steering and the upward-venting “top pipes” exhaust system.”
