REPORT: Porsche R&D says electric 911 possible, needs more development
eRuf Greenster - Click above for high-res image gallery
In an interview with German magazine Motor Zeitung, Porsche's R&D director Wolfgang Dürheimer discussed the possibility of electrifying the iconic 911 sports car. Legendary Porsche tuners Ruf first showed a battery-powered prototype 911 called the eRuf last fall and then revealed a second-generation version (pictured) at the Geneva Motor Show in March. The eRuf Greenster was a major improvement over the original and Dürheimer praised the achievement of the smaller company.
Dürheimer doesn't rule out an electrified sports car in the future, but feels the technology is not quite ready for Porsche prime-time. The problem revolves around the size and weight of the batteries, and even discarding the conventional powertrain leaves the Greenster with a deficit of at least 500 pounds compared to a normal 911... and no luggage space to boot. As battery technology progresses, however, we can certainly expect a battery-powered sports car to emerge from Zuffenhausen in due course.
Gallery: Geneva 2009: Ruf Greenster
[Source: Motor Zeitung]
Photos Copyright ©2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dwaltr 4:38PM (7/01/2009)
But what will this electronic technological terror end up costing? I'll take a nice base 911 over any electric version every day of the week.
Reply
Kumail 4:42PM (7/01/2009)
Any car can be made to a electric car, its just that somebody needs to do it.
Reply
996700 4:43PM (7/01/2009)
This car does seem pretty good idea on paper, but a 500 hundred pound increase there is no way it should be in production!
Reply
PJ 3:23PM (7/02/2009)
Electric is the future; current methods of generating that electricity are not.
But once an infrastructure for electrically-powered cars goes mainstream, those methods can evolve at their own pace--the cars don't care whether the juice on the grid they're plugging into came from wind, solar, or coal.
That said, I suspect that even today, an all-electric fleet would be more efficient than an all-gas fleet. One coal plant produces x unit of energy more efficiently than several thousand combustion engines, especially when you factor in the energy expended to refine and transport petroleum fuel, etc.
aj121489 4:44PM (7/01/2009)
ELECTRIC IS NOT THE FUTURE
Reply
jinsei888 6:06PM (7/01/2009)
Maybe not "your" future, but it is the future of the rest of humanity.
Shiftright 8:17PM (7/01/2009)
AJ, you're so right. People forget that most of our electricity is still generated by non-sustainable means. Granted, it's easier to regulate and minimize emissions in a central location, you're still essentially deferring the pollution elsewhere. Plus, the energy and resources required to properly recycle highly toxic batteries pretty much nixes the benefit of an electric car versus a petrol/diesel one in the cradle to ashes context. Electric cars are a stop gap until other truly sustainable fuels or energy sources are developed.
zard 5:02PM (7/01/2009)
I rather chosse flat-6 engine over batteries and electric motors
Reply
paul34 5:15PM (7/01/2009)
That car makes me crave some green Tic-Tacs for some reason.
Reply
Tomac 5:22PM (7/01/2009)
WHY?!?
Reply
Obviously DaMinority 6:50AM (7/02/2009)
I guess they won't need to put lead under the front bumper...
Reply
Shiftright 8:18PM (7/01/2009)
Electric 911...WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!.....
Reply
Redline 10:34AM (7/02/2009)
If you can build the Cayenne then making the 911 electric doesn't seem that bad. o_0
Reply