Porsche hypercar 'just a matter of time', may not be an EV

Porsche’s Mission X hypercar is still in the works to replace the 918, although there is debate internally as to whether or not it will be fully electric or a hybrid.

Speaking to Australian media, Michael Mauer, the chief designer for Porsche for almost 20 years said, that while the company is busy launching a range of new cars such as the electric Macan, new 718 (Boxster, Cayman) and updated Cayenne, the work continues on its next-generation hypercar.

However, no decision is seemingly made on whether or not it will be fully electric as per the original plan with Mission X show car.

“Not saying when but definitely there will be once upon a time in the future there will be a hypercar again,” Mauer said.

“But the really challenging part right now with this is, is it an EV? Is it a hybrid, what is it? And you know whenever Porsche is doing such a car, it has to be the most, the strongest and the best car in that segment, and therefore there is still some discussion as to what is the right solution?”

It seems as though Porsche may be waiting to see how its range of new electric vehicles (EVs), especially the upcoming 718 is received by customers before diving into a fully electric hypercar over a hybrid or traditional combustion-engined vehicle.

The Mission X showcar gave great glimpses of what Porsche may be up to with its next-generation of hyprcars, but with the boil of the electric car segment – at least for sports cars – there is every chance Porsche is waiting to see where the market goes before committing to any particular solution.

“So far, I think the hypercar or super sports car is not something that will happen in the near future. But sure, there will be one car.”

Most importantly, Porsche is not chasing 0-100km/h times, but instead going after laptimes as its standard measure of performance, which may shift the focus away from a fully electric hypercar.

“That’s one thing that happens with these EVs, that this acceleration on this right road is not limited anymore by the expertise of the engineers of the engines. It is much more limited by what you as a human being can stand, or with the rubber on the wheels.

“So, again, that was never Porsche’s [strategy]. It was always the whole package when it came to the end, when it comes to the handling on windy roads or the track, so it’s always the package.”

It has been 11 years since Porsche launched the 918 hypercar. The plug-in hybrid is powered by a mid-mounted naturally-aspirated 4.6-litre V8 engine with 447kW, aided by two electric motors (fed by a tiny 6.8kWh battery) delivering an additional 210kW, for a total system output of 652kW and 1280Nm.

Given the impressive performance of its predecessor, whatever hypercar Porsche is cooking up next has an enormous task at hand.

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