Porsche R&D says electric 911 possible, needs more development
eRuf Greenster - Click above for high-res image gallery
In an interview with the German magazine Motor Zeitung, Porsche's R&D director Wolfgang Dürheimer discussed the possibility of electrification of the iconic 911 sports car. Legendary Porsche tuners Ruf first showed a prototype battery-powered 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 a electrified sports car in the future, but feels the technology is not ready for Porsche yet. The problem is the size and weight of the batteries in their current state. Even discarding the conventional powertrain leaves the Greenster with a deficit of at least 500 pounds compared to a conventional 911 and no luggage space. 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)
Tohe 9:52AM (7/01/2009)
I think they could think outside the box and integrate batteries into items like the seats of the car, the console, floor or the door panels like the tZero. Either way, I'll be on the market for one when this happens.
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locoyocal 10:18AM (7/01/2009)
Or go further outside the box. No battery at all. Build autobahn's and race tracks with electricity in them.
guyledouche 10:46AM (7/01/2009)
Locoyocal,
Not a good idea. Feel free to do some research and DD on this site. you will find many answers to questions like these. Electrifying the roadways simply will/can not happen for many reasons. The search section should be your best friend.
locoyocal 11:13AM (7/01/2009)
guyledouche,
This article revolves around people that drive 911's, a majority of which would be willing to pay to go faster on a race track.
Lad 12:26PM (7/01/2009)
Lets hope the BEV is better balanced than the 911 or the Tesla roadster...too much weight in the rear compared to the front...not a good idea to lift in the turns when the car gets out of shape.
Tohe 1:40PM (7/01/2009)
@Lad
Their best candidate for electrification is the Cayman, I wonder if anybody has done a conversion of it yet.
dv 10:56AM (7/01/2009)
I've mentioned it here before in the past - Porsche should really look at resurrecting the 914 as all electric sports car. The concept car was reported here before and it looked really nice. If that was all electric and went for $80k to $90k it would knock Tesla off the thrown.
Get me in contact with someone at Porsche . . .
lol
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BlackbirdHighway 11:01AM (7/01/2009)
So, why is it that I keep seeing comments all over that what Tesla did was too easy: just rip out the engine and put in batteries and a motor, and you have an instant electric car. "The Tesla is just an electric Elise". "They didn't do anything special". "Anybody could have done that".
Then, when every other car maker looks at it, they all say it's too difficult, they can't figure out the engineering, or they are working on it, but it's going to take a very long time to get it to market.
Either the Tesla people are very smart, or the other car makers are really stupid, or they are just sand bagging. Maybe some of each.
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Alan 1:18PM (7/01/2009)
Articles that state the bleeding obvious. Such great reading.
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James 2:41PM (7/01/2009)
Here are some videos of an EV that can smoke a 911 (and a Tesla): http://bit.ly/aRCkG
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