Porsche's 911 Hybrid Is Ready For Prime Time And The Potential Is Huge

The Porsche 911 is getting a hybrid version. Yes you heard that correctly. You'd think Porsche would have already hybridized a 911 after over 60 years of production, but it looks like the brand really wanted to get it right before the public got its hands on one. 

Reportedly, it was the result of over 3.1 million (yes, million) miles of testing. As Porsche's Vice President of the 911 Model Line Frank Moser explained in a press release, "For the first time in our icon's 61-year history, we are installing a hybrid drive system in a road-going 911. This innovative performance hybrid makes the 911 even more dynamic. We left nothing to chance during development and tested the new 911 under all sorts of conditions all over the world from the freezing cold to scorching heat, as was the case during the final stages of testing in Dubai."

Another such place was the Nürburgring in Germany, where the newest member of the 911 dynasty clocked in a 7:16.934 lap time. According to Porsche, that's a full 8.7 seconds faster than the old 911. The hybrid Porsche is clearly serious and meant for the street — unlike the recent dune diving Porsche 911 Dakar. 

As for what kind of hybrid setup the newest 911 entails, that's still up for speculation, but it's a big deal nonetheless. It's still an unknown how Porsche worked its hybrid magic on the 911's iconic rear-engine flat-six powered drivetrain. 

Of course, the Porsche 911 is one of the most famous performance cars ever made — debatably the most famous performance car ever made — so Porsche has a lot riding on the new hybrid drivetrain depending on how the public responds to it. Still, if the preliminary Nürburgring lap times are any indication, strict racing fans won't have a lot to worry about.

Porsche is debuting the new 911 on May 28th at 9 am EST on its press website, so the automotive world will just have to hold its breath until then for specifics. Until then, Porsche fans get hyped for the newest 911 variant that's a little more electrifying than other variants of the storied model.