Don't Expect The All-Electric Porsche 918 Successor To Arrive For A While

It’s looking increasingly likely that the replacement for the Porsche 918 Spyder will have an all-electric powertrain. But don’t worry: you’ll have plenty of time to prepare yourselves - Porsche is waiting for sizeable advancements in technology before developing such a thing.

“A future super-sports is a matter of technology. If we were to do it now, it would be a hybrid. But we have already done that with the 918,” Porsche R&D head Michael Steiner told Autocar. The only trouble is, the batteries currently used in electric cars are too heavy for the kind of hypercar Porsche has in mind.

It’d need to be faster than the 918 at the Nurburgring, which wouldn’t be easy with a car full of bulky batteries compromising the handling. There’s also the problem of how quickly the charge of the batteries would be dispensed on a hot ‘Ring lap - Steiner reckons this could lead to cell damage.

Steiner also suggests that Porsche is comfortable with its hypercars not being released on a “regular cycle,” pointing out the nine year gap between the Carrera GT and 918. “The next one might be even longer,” he added.

With that in mind, it’s looking like McLaren really is going to be the first major manufacturer to cook up an electric hypercar…