Skip to main content

Greenest hot rod ever?

Performance car specialist Porsche is the latest firm to announce plans to launch a new plug-in hybrid vehicle.
March 1, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Performance car specialist 3489 Porsche is the latest firm to announce plans to launch a new plug-in hybrid vehicle. With 522kW on tap, a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 3.2seconds and a top speed of 320km/h, this green machine has performance to match some of the highest performance cars on the market. Simulations carried out have estimated that it will be able to lap the full Nürburgring circuit in Germany in 7.5minutes. The car features a V8, 4litre engine and twin electric motors with power delivered through a seven speed gearbox. The car's batteries can be topped up from a 240V household socket but allow a maximum distance of just 25.6km in electric only mode and considerably less if the driver uses much of the vehicle's performance. Made from carbon fibre to minimise weight and with a production run of just 918 vehicles starting in the third quarter of 2013, this car is not likely to be cheap. A pricetag of €773,000 has been set, which puts the vehicle out of reach for most buyers. Somewhat more down to earth is the Vauxhall/Opel Ampera, the European version of the 2773 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, which is expected to cost some €32,000.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Building Egypt's world class Desert Highway
    February 9, 2012
    A huge highway upgrade project will transform the Cairo-Alexandria road link into a world-class connection as Mike Woof reports
  • New laws will limit vehicle pollution in Paris
    November 8, 2012
    New proposals put forward in Paris could place pollution at peak periods as a priority. The planned pollution programme would include measures such as a toll on the main routes entering Paris. Users would pay rates reflecting various criteria such as the distance travelled, whether it is a peak travel period or the environmental impact of the vehicle being used. Vehicles seen as excessively polluting would be banned, with one proposal forbidding the use of large SUV/4x4 cars that are more than 17 years old
  • Joy riding
    August 15, 2019
    Our Skidmarks page is highly rated by readers. Your input could help make this page even more entertaining. If you come across any amusing road-related stories or pictures email me at [email protected] JOY RIDING A couple in the US recently took advantage of the self-driving features of a Tesla car for reasons other than transportation. They ignored the suggestions from Tesla to remain alert even when the vehicle was using its self-drive mode and instead engaged in sexual acts, which they recorded on vid
  • Making roads safer for the young
    February 27, 2018
    Children are at serious risk on Europe’s road network. This is the finding of a new report from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC). According to the ETSC’s analysis of crash data, more than 8,000 children aged 0-14 years have been killed in road traffic collisions over the last 10 years in the European Union. Half of the children killed were travelling in cars, a third were walking and 13% were cycling, with one in every 13 child deaths in the European Union being the result of a road collision.