Porsche News
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Possibly the most rapturously received vehicle at last week's Detroit Auto Show was the Porsche 918 RSR coupe, a hybrid race car that isn't even street-legal. And it's about as far from the quintessential Toyota Prius hybrid as you could get. It doesn't use a battery pack at all, in fact, but the flywheel-based Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) that the company's engineers first installed in the one-off Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid factory racer. After a heart-breaking retirement less than two hours before the end of the 24 Hours of Nurburgring this summer, that car (running in a class of...
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2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid Gets...A Tax Break
All kinds of green cars are eligible for tax breaks, but the 2011 Porsche Cayenne Hybrid could be one of the most expensive vehicles ever to get the IRS' nod of approval. The Cayenne S Hybrid earns its buyers up to $1,800 in federal tax credits, the automaker says, making it the first Porsche ever...
Martin Padgett -
Porsche Looks At Hybrids For All Model Lines
Sports cars have always been a lifestyle vehicle; they are cars for people who like speed, agility and, in some cases, enough power to make even the most talented driver be on the edge of control. However, the pure joy and passion of a sports car isn’t protecting the segment from the coming...
Jonathan McGrew -
Peugeot, Audi Diesels Lead Petit Le Mans, Porsche Hybrid Finishes Race
Endurance racing has more than its share of heartbreak. For Porsche Motorsport, this weekend's Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta provided sweet relief to a galling memory: Its unique 911 GT3 R Hybrid race car retired less than two hours before the checkered flag during May's 24 Hours of Nurburgring...
John Voelcker -
Tuning Porsche's 911 GT3 R Hybrid Race Car: It's All Software
Road Atlanta -- Two days before the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid competes for the first time on U.S. soil, the head of its development team said the company plans further development of the technology. Dr. Daniel Armbruster, whose official title is manager of the motorsports development process for the...
John Voelcker -
Why Are Luxury and Sports Brands Going Green? To Survive
It was so much easier just a few short years ago. Luxury cars wafted and sports machines roared, with nary a thought to gasoline consumed. Hybrids were for weenies, and everyone knew their place. But now? A hybrid Ferrari, a hybrid Porsche race car, an electric BMW ... what is the world coming to?...
John Voelcker -
Who ever said green cars can’t be fun? You only have to look at the Tesla Roadster and upcoming hybrid and electric sports cars from Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW to see that there is a future for sports car fans beyond the internal combustion engine. Porsche, too, is getting on the green car bandwagon, revealing earlier this year its stunning 918 Spyder concept car and almost immediately giving it the production green light. If you don’t recall, the Porsche 918 Spyder is a hybrid supercar featuring a 500 horsepower 3.4-liter V-8 and a total of three electric motors with a combined output...
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Bicycles, Not Sports Cars: The New, Greener Mid-Life Crisis?
Could the high-end bicycle replace the sports-car as a symbol of the mid-life crisis?
Bengt Halvorson -
Bosch Commits To EV Powertrain Development
Following the successful launch of Bosch’s parallel full-hybrid technology (in models such as the Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne S), the key international automotive supplier is also increasingly investing in the development of powertrain technologies for all-electric vehicles. With the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Porsche 918 Spyder, World's Fastest, Priciest Hybrid, OKed For Production
Toss everything you thought you knew about hybrid-electric vehicles out the window. Porsche has just green-lighted production of a car that will shake preconceptions about hybrids to their roots. The Porsche 918 Spyder hybrid supercar, first shown as a concept at this spring's Geneva Motor Show...
John Voelcker -
Porsche Panamera S Hybrid Coming Next Year
It's no secret that Porsche has a new found love affair with vehicle electrification, having recently unveiled its first hybrid model ever, the 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid, as well as teasing fans with high-performance hybrids such as the 911 GT3 R Hybrid and 918 Spyder. Porsche even confirmed...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Official: Porsche Confirms Electric Sports Car Development
Electricity and high-performance cars may or may not mix, depending on your frame of reference, but whether you're a Tesla fan or a Formula 1 devotee, it's easy to agree that a hybrid or all-electric Porsche would be a welcome creation for sports car and EV fans alike. Though we’ve seen several...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
What's it like driving the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, the world's fastest hybrid vehicle? Ask driver Patrick Long, and he'll tell you he's "still pretty charged up (forgive the pun)" after returning to the States following two weeks of testing the car on the Lausitzring circuit outside Berlin. We had a chance to chat with Long next to one of the world's only two 911 GT3 R Hybrid models, incongruously parked outside a swanky restaurant in midtown Manhattan. He was there to announce that the groundbreaking hybrid would make its first appearance in U.S. competition in the Petit Le Mans race...
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New Jaguar F-Type Sports Car Is Imminent
Small, Fast and Sleeker Should Be Jaguar’s Motto For the Future F-Type
Jonathan McGrew -
First Drive: 2011 Porsche Cayenne Hybrid
The Cayenne S Hybrid is an off-road capable model that can hold its own on the track and yet return well over 20 mpg on the street.
Bengt Halvorson -
Exclusive: VVC Reveals Its White Plastic V-Car, But No Photos
Just a month after being turned down for low-interest loans by the U.S. Department of Energy, the reclusive V-Vehicle Co. has shown a drivable prototype of its affordable, green V-Car to Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and members of the press in Baton Rouge. While no photos were allowed, many more...
John Voelcker -
Volkswagen Will Dominate the World of Electric Cars. Got That?
Maybe it's just the translation. But auto writers often chuckle at announcements from German manufacturers that come across as just a touch bombastic. Latest case in point: Volkswagen's long-term plans for vehicle electrification, released at the Geneva Motor Show this week. Key excerpt...
John Voelcker -
2010 Geneva Motor Show: New Green Production Cars
No, sadly, we're not at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, underway this week in Switzerland. But we've been keeping close tabs on the introductions via our colleagues throughout the High Gear Media network. Here's our list of the green cars shown at Geneva that are headed for production. Most of them...
John Voelcker -
After more than three years, Porsche has taken the wraps off its first-ever hybrid-electric vehicle, the 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid. It's one of several models in a totally redesigned version of its controversial but profitable crossover. But if any brand should have a hybrid, it's Porsche. The world's very first hybrid is widely acknowledged to be the Lohner-Porsche of 1902, created by 27-year-old engineer Ferdinand Porsche, who founded Porsche AG after the Second World War. Lighter, more efficient The Porsche hybrid will be unveiled as part of the 2011 Porsche Cayenne range at next...
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2012 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid: First Official Details
Last week, Volkswagen unveiled the all-new 2011 Touareg sport utility vehicle, including its first-ever hybrid-electric powertrain. It has new and crisper styling that updates what had become a somewhat outmoded SUV. Volkswagen sold about half a million of the first-generation Touareg, launched in...
John Voelcker -
Porsche 911 Hybrid Test Car Uses Flywheel To Store Energy
Pretty much every manufacturer is now at least experimenting with hybrid cars. The bulk of them use a high-voltage battery pack to store and deliver energy to supplement a gasoline engine. But in its experimental 911 GT3 R Hybrid test car, Porsche has taken a different tack toward energy...
John Voelcker -
Porsche Says No to Hybrid Versions of 911, Boxster, and Cayman
Porsche, the name that is legend in racing and performance vehicles has been questioned about recent decisions. Enthusiasts feel that the company should not have considered an SUV or a 4 door vehicle as they simply do not symbolize the brand. Porsche responded by stating the economics and...
Eric Loveday -
RUF Reveals Electrified Stormster Based on Porsche Cayenne SUV
One-off vehicles by specialty automakers are essential to the automotive marketplace. Many of these vehicles are displayed annually at the SEMA show. The vehicles highlight future products and even outline the direction of the industry as a whole. RUF Automobile GmbH is a specialty automaker...
Eric Loveday -
2009 Los Angeles Auto Show: Preview
Only a handful of U.S. auto shows count as important. Detroit, in January, is one; historically, New York in April has been another. But the up-and-comer is the Los Angeles Auto Show, which now occurs in late November or early December and focuses on green cars of all stripes: hybrids, electric...
John Voelcker