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Porsche 918 Spyder to go into production within 5 years

March 10, 2010 Omar Rana Convertibles, electric-cars, electric-vehicles, plug-in hybrids, Porsche 918 Spyder, Porsche 918 Spyder Concept, Roadsters, Sports Cars, Supercars

The biggest hit of the 2010 Geneva Motor Show had to be the new Porsche 918 Spyder Concept – so that should have most of you wondering when Porsche is going to drop the word “Concept” at the end of the name and just produce the well received plug-in hybrid supercar.

Porsche’s boss Michael Macht told AutoCar that staff in the firm is fully committed to building the 918 Spyder. While Porsche has yet to officially confirm production, Macht said that the positive reaction to the 918 in Geneva has already swayed opinion in the company.

“There is no one inside Porsche who doesn’t want to build the 918,” he said. “The response has been marvellous; we will ask buyers to sign letters of intent. The 918 Spyder provides the answer to whether there can be high-performance cars in the future. Many have said they are finished. This car shows they are not.”

Inside sources (we always wonder who they actually are and why they never get caught talking to media, very slick insiders) say that the 918 Spyder is likely to go on sale within five years.

Click here for our original post on the Porsche 918 Spyder Concept.

Refresher: Power for the Porsche 918 Spyder Concept comes from a 3.4L mid-mounted V8 making 500-hp. The engine is mated to two electric-motors sitting on the front and rear axle with an additional output of 218-hp. Power is driven to the wheels by Porsche”s 7-speed Doppelkupplungsgetriebe PDK transmission, allowing the 918 Spyder Concept to go from 0-62 mph in 3.2 seconds with a top speed of 198 mph. Drivers are allowed to choose from four different driving modes including E-Drive, Hybrid, Sport Hybrid and Race Hybrid. The E-Drive mode let the 918 Spyder concept run on pure electricity with a range of 16 miles.