Mild hybrid 911 in 2025 - opinions?

[JohnF]

Is anybody on the forum planning on getting one of the new hybrid 911s?
 

I am personally sceptical about a hybrid 911 and I think that it is only being done because of government pressure to electrify cars.   

I had a Mercedes AMG GLE 63S from 2022. That was a non plug-in mild hybrid with a V8 engine.
 

It was terrible and the throttle mapping was way off.  when I made my complaints to the service department, I was advised that Mercedes engineers were well aware of the problem, and that they were doing what they could to fix it, but that I should not hold my breath.  Thankfully I was able to sell it for the same amount that I bought it for.

I am sure that Porsche would do a fantastic job with anything that they develop, but in my opinion, the math and physics just don’t work for a mild hybrid non-plug-in 911.  Especially when you consider that the battery will eventually acquire replacement due to electrolyte fatigue.  The power to weight ratio simply does not make sense, and the ability to recharge that battery with what is essentially a flywheel is suspect.

I took a Taycan turbo S out for a weekend and was able to enjoy the best driving experience I have ever had in any vehicle.   But - I almost did not make it home from a destination that was only 100 km away after a full charge before leaving.   16 hours later that day, the car finally became fully charged on my level two charger at the house.   I ended up having to use a different car the next day while the Taycan charged.  Apparently, there are 50 Taycans across Canada that cannot be sold, despite the best efforts of Porsche to make that happen.   Here in Arizona, Taycans are used mostly as grocery getters.   Really nice grocery getters at most.

I fear that the 992.1 version of the 911 will be the last one available with a pure ICE.  
 

I would be interested in other peoples’ thoughts.

[CarreraGT]

The new GT2RS will be the first one and I am on the list for that. I will make an assessment once they announce the details on the car this summer. I have the confidence that it's going to be good.

[JohnF]

That's great!  I'm on the list for a couple of vehicles as well - but it really bothers me that the Lux tax on each of them will be equivalent to a new loaded Bronco Sport for each of my kids!

Once Trudeau is gone, I think that his most likely replacement will repeal the Lux tax just like Clinton did after Bush implemented it....so I might end up waiting until after the next election before purchasing.....

[yansi101]

Imho a Taycan is good as a second or third vehicle in the family, going on longer trips is best to choose a gasoline or plug in hybrid.

I use a 2020 Cayenne e-hybrid as DD, in city driving I only rely on E mode battery power, except when the temperature gets very cold, then the gas engine takes over, and out of city drives, I choose hybrid mode.

My understanding of this 992 mild hybrid is designed for performance use and not cruising in urban environment. I'll be interested to see the final specs too.

[efejoao]

I had a few hybrids (Volvo, Hyundai) and a couple of electric cars (Tesla).

You are correct that manufacturers, specially Porsche, are bringing more EVs due to governamental policies. From my personal experience, there are benefits on hybrids if you are looking to save on gas but, unless its a Hyper/Super car (918 Spyder / Buggati), a hybrid driving experience is not the best. Also, hybrid technology has evolved a lot but, in most brands, it makes things overly complicated and expensive to maintain (excluding Toyota).

For electric cars, charging is the biggest annoyance and always made me anxious, even with a Tesla and their charging network. It seems that they have recently made the network available to other brands and, perhaps in the future, I will consider buying a heavily depreciated Taycan. The Taycan is the best EV I have driven but the depreciation is absurd and it will continue to drop like a stone specially with the battery technology still evolving. When they become cheap, I will probably will get one as a local beater. If you will get an EV, I will suggest you get a lease on one as there will be quite much uncertainty in this market for the next 5-10 years.

[al k]

The battery replacement costs, (which seem to be inevitable), are absolutely ludicrous at present.

I suspect as EV batteries evolve, the replacement batteries may turn the present cars into expensive paperweights.

Hybrid technology made sense from the outset, but for some reason it took a back seat to the full electric craze.

Natural evolution is good, government sponsored/subsidised mandated evolution, not so much... 

[efejoao]

17 hours ago, al k said:

The battery replacement costs, (which seem to be inevitable), are absolutely ludicrous at present.

I suspect as EV batteries evolve, the replacement batteries may turn the present cars into expensive paperweights.

Hybrid technology made sense from the outset, but for some reason it took a back seat to the full electric craze.

Natural evolution is good, government sponsored/subsidised mandated evolution, not so much... 

Completely agree. By The way, the battery replacement cost for a Taycan is about $50K

[JohnF]

Wow.  I just learned that the battery replacement costs on the Cayenne Hybrid are about $20k....same deal with almost any mild hybrid - which is also disappointing and makes me rethink getting invested into them.  I am hesitating about updating my G Wagon with the newly released one for this reason....and the Luxury Tax.  I am really hoping that the Lux Tax at least will be abolished by 2026 once Trudeau and his cronies are thrown out.

[yansi101]

As of today I counted 206 mixed models of new Taycans in the Porsche Canada dealer network, and does not include demos or used ones.

Next year the Macan ev will show up in Canada, it won't be long before the gas Macan will be history.