2025 Porsche 911 Hybrid production starts, is faster than current equivalent

The Porsche 911 hybrid is now in production ahead of its official global unveiling in Europe planned for 28 May 2024 with the German car maker saying it’s faster than its petrol-only equivalent.

In a statement, Porsche revealed the 911 hybrid’s official unveiling date and a rapid lap time around the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife race circuit in Germany.

The 911 hybrid’s claimed lap time of 7:16.934 minutes is a substantial 8.7 seconds faster than "the corresponding version of the predecessor model", says Porsche. It's unclear which specific version of the current 911 this refers to, but it's clearly more the Carrera or Carrera S end of the 911 spectrum than the current GT3 RS' 6:49.328 minute best. Either way, it's no boulevard cruiser.

The Nordschleife layout is used as a benchmark for car manufacturers, as its 20.8-kilometre single-lap length includes a variety of slow and fast sections, as well as undulations with smooth and rougher surfaces.

Not yet confirmed for Australia, Porsche confirmed work on a hybrid version of its iconic 911 sports car when the current eighth-generation 911 – codenamed ‘992’ – was introduced in 2019.

The hybrid is part of a mid-life facelift for the current 911 model expected to be unveiled in mid-2024 ahead of a scheduled on-sale in 2025.

Porsche has set a goal of more than half of its new vehicle sales to be electrified – either battery-electric or hybrid – by 2025, with 80 per cent of its total sales to be battery-electric by 2030.

The carmaker has not yet shared further details on the 911 Hybrid – from pricing, which trim levels it will be available in, nor the name – but it could be called the Porsche 911 t-Hybrid after the company trademarked ‘t-Hybrid’.

The 911 hybrid may also use a four-cylinder petrol engine in tandem with its battery-electric set-up instead of the ‘flat six’ engines the brand is famous for.

Porsche developed a four-cylinder hybrid engine for its previous sports car program, with its 919 racer winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans three years in a row between 2015 and 2017.

Like the 919 racer, Porsche management has confirmed the 911 hybrid won’t be a plug-in hybrid – as per the Porsche 918 hypercar sold from 2013-15 – but will instead draw inspiration from its current LMDh endurance racing program.

Porsche’s hybrid endurance racers took outright victory at Spa, Belgium in the World Endurance Championship as well as at IMSA series at Laguna Seca, USA, over the 11-12 May 2024 weekend.