- Porsche's 918 Spyder Hybrid may be headed for production.
- Sources say the Porsche could cost over $600,000.
- More than 2,000 people have expressed interested in purchasing the hybrid.
STUTTGART, Germany — Porsche's 918 Spyder, a hybrid that debuted in concept form in March at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show, could be priced at $630,000 when and if it goes into production. That's the rampant speculation reported by Bloomberg News and repeated by blogs and enthusiast Web sites all over the globe. Bloomberg cited "two people with direct knowledge of the plan" and said at least 2,000 "non-binding expressions of interest" have been recorded to date.
The 918 Spyder has a 500-horsepower V8 engine and a top speed of 199 mph. Its electric drive system lets it go up to 15.5 miles on electric power alone.
The concept was one of a trio of hybrids Porsche unveiled this spring. The others are the 2011 Cayenne S Hybrid, which has a parallel full-hybrid system, and the 911 GT3 R Hybrid, a racing car that Porsche took out on the Nurburgring's Nordschleife circuit in May.
Porsche development chief Wolfgang Durheimer said after the Geneva show that the automaker was looking for 1,000 orders before approving production of the 918 Spyder, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The automaker has not yet made an official statement of its intent to produce the supercar.
Inside Line says: You could buy a whole lot of economical little hybrid cars with that kind of money, but not one of them would power the imagination and the senses like this Spyder. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
Add A Comment »
newcar71 says:
06:11 AM, 07/15/2010
I still want a Carrera GT...
kosmo69 says:
11:43 AM, 07/14/2010
akula1, i guess you wont be buying one.
cmike2780 says:
08:40 AM, 07/14/2010
"entry-level Porsche" yeah ok. They already have that, its called the Boxter. 1 of 1 will always cost more than 1 of 100,000. Why does it matter that it will be priced at $600,000.
It just bothers me how some "classic American muscle cars" will go at auction for insane amounts and its acceptable. Try selling a high performance supercar with the latest technology and suddenly it's overpriced. If all most Americans needed was cheap form of transportation, I hear Tata Motors has the car for just the purpose. The 918 and LFA for that matter, are future classics that shows what can be achieved when you don't restrict engineers with price points.
icecubefosho says:
08:25 AM, 07/14/2010
You have to be completely blind if you think that this would've started around $60k.
stingray454 says:
07:11 AM, 07/14/2010
Hah! I was thinking this car (except for its stupid hybrid powertrain) would make a great entry-level Porsche, worth about $60k. Looks like Porsche got a bit too full of themselves (again), and added a zero. It's nice looking, but not THAT nice looking. NEXT!!
throwback says:
05:45 AM, 07/14/2010
If they build it, it wont matter what it costs, they will sell every one.
bach1750 says:
05:26 AM, 07/14/2010
This vehicle's technology will trickle down to many new Porsche's in the future (and VW's). I think of it as a 21st Century 959. When Porsche created the 959 it was a showcase of technology. That technology eventually found it's way in all 911s. This is the same scenario.
akula1 says:
03:18 AM, 07/14/2010
Lemme guess. Because it has a Porsche badge all the Lexus LFA haters don't mind that it's almost twice as expensive. I hope the 918 is faster than the Carrera GT which is slower than the Lexus and cost $440,000 is 2004 Dollars. So where are all the Volvo driving, penny pinching LFA haters? Bueller??
The 918 looks great but $600,000? I guess I'll have to keep waiting for Porsche to wake up one day and have an epiphany that the Cayman is a better chassis than the 911. Can we please stop pretending that a rear, overhanging engine represents the pinnacle in sportscar design?
drivera1981 says:
05:41 PM, 07/13/2010
i'd also like to express my non-binding interest in the 918 concept. make that 2001.