This Electric Porsche 911 Rendering Is What EV Dreams Are Made Of

Porsche, like pretty much every other automaker out there, is in a transitional period to electrification. However, while most of the Porsche lineup will become electric or is set to gain an electric version alongside its internal combustion engine (ICE) counterpart like the Macan, the 911 will continue to be powered by an ICE for as long as regulations can allow it. The highest amount of electrification it’s going to get is with hybrid electric power, because even Porsche knows that a 911 will not be a 911 without an ICE. This Porsche sports car, after all, is so iconic at this point that it’s already a cultural sensation of its own.

But, what if we just imagine for a while, that Porsche suddenly decided to turn the 911 into an electric vehicle (EV)? What would it look like, and how would it probably do? Would you even be willing to buy an electric 911 if Porsche decides to build one? Let’s find out.

In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from Porsche and other authoritative sources, including CarBuzz.

What An Electric 911 Could Look Like

The Porsche 911’s shape has remained relatively unchanged since its inception in 1973 for the 1974 model year. The 60-year-old sports car, therefore, has held a design that, while it has become sleeker and more modern over the years, is still undeniably a 911 that carries over its soul from the original model. Therefore, in its transition to an EV, every design detail that has kept its identity intact has remained unchanged, save for a few design tweaks by our digital artists to give it a sleeker look.

An Electric 911 That Maintains Its Legacy

Building upon the current 992 generation model, the electric 911 uses the same base design, but with a few details that several new or upcoming Porsches are set to adopt. This begins with the LED headlights, which, in typical Porsche fashion, sit higher than the hood, but instead of the circular shape that the 911 has always been known for, it inherits a horizontal design with two-line LED daytime running lights. This is a design motif that the new Macan EV and facelifted Taycan inherited, though the LED daytime running lights in those two cars consist of four lines similar to the one in the Mission R electric concept.

Our digital rendering team also went a bit outlandish, too, by giving the electric 911 a wider body with flared wheel arches, forged carbon fiber exterior parts, and even a large rear wing. Interestingly, the electric 911 you see here uses the Targa body style, which is, in my opinion, one of the nicest body styles that the current 992 generation has. Finally, being electric, it doesn’t have any form of tailpipes, while the front bumper has fewer vents and mimics the design of the 918 Spyder hybrid hypercar.

An Interior That (Probably) Echoes The Current 992

Unfortunately, what we don’t have any detailed views of is the interior. However, this is Porsche we’re talking about, so it’s not like it will be hard to imagine what an electric 911’s interior would look like. If the recent updates are anything to go by, then we can expect the electric 911’s interior to look similar to the current 992’s, but add more tech digitalization whilst removing a few traditional Porsche design cues. Therefore, say goodbye to the analog tachometer that’s flanked by two LCD screens in favor of a purely digital gauge cluster. Pour one out for the iconic five-pod gauge cluster that Porsches have traditionally been known for.

Elsewhere, expect better responses and newer software from the Porsche Communication Management (PCM) infotainment system, while the toggle on the left side of the dash to start the engine will most likely be replaced by a simpler button. Lastly, the horizontal dash design of the current 992 generation will remain, but with a few design flourishes to make it look more modern.

An Electric 911 Seems To Be Some Time Away

Porsche has placed a heavy emphasis on driving dynamics, which means that even in its transition into an EV, the Porsche 911 will remain at the pinnacle of the segment when it comes to the driving experience. Porsche, however, has confirmed already that we won’t see an electric 911 for as long as laws and demand allow it, but imaginatively, what would an electric 911 be made up of in order to maintain that classic Porsche driving experience for the electric era?

A lot of details about the electric 718 remain a mystery apart from the existence of prototypes already undergoing testing. We also know it will utilize a completely new platform for electric sports car use. The 718 is a rear mid-engined sports car, while the 911’s engine position is much more rearward. However, without an engine to speak of, the new electric sports car platform’s proportions can merely be adjusted without affecting the drivetrain characteristics.

Fast Charging With Good Range

There is no confirmation about anything with respect to the 911 EV, but as a reference point, the facelifted Taycan and all-new Macan EV are based on 800-volt architecture. The Macan EV’s 800-volt architecture even goes one step further by enabling its batteries to be split into two 400-volt units when charging with 400-volt DC fast chargers, thus matching the speed of what an 800-volt DC fast charger could also achieve.

Both of these aforementioned Porsche EVs also benefit from new battery chemistries and higher energy densities. Also contributing to the energy efficiency aspect are electric motors designed to consume less power. That’s what Porsche has done with the facelifted Taycan and the all-new Macan EV.

What The Future Holds For The 911

As much as Porsche wants to keep the 911 powered by an ICE for as long as regulations and consumer demand allow it, the 911 will inevitably turn into an electric sports car. Or will it? While Porsche is confirmed to be working on a hybrid 911, there’s another important item that Porsche is working on to not just keep the 911’s boxer engines alive and well, but also other ICE vehicles as well.

Synthetic Fuels, Anyone?

That’s because Porsche is working on synthetic fuels, though other automakers are also keen to join this carbon-neutral move. To understand what separates synthetic fuels from fossil fuels, we have to understand how both fuel types are produced. Fossil fuels, as the name suggests, are produced through millions of years of decomposed matter. These contain elements like hydrogen and carbon, which is why we’re able to combust these to power our engines. These fossil fuels, which have been under the Earth’s crust for millions of years, is what we currently extract from the Earth, refined, and then combusted in our engines.

Synthetic fuel, on the other hand, is similar to fossil fuels. The only major part where they differ is how the fuel was created. Synthetic fuel is created through the replication of millions of years of decomposition into a shorter timeframe and in a manner that uses renewable or eco-friendly energy sources. Porsche, on the other hand, is specifically working on a derivative of synthetic fuels called e-fuels. E-fuels are made by capturing carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, along with hydrogen obtained from splitting water’s H2O content, through sustainable energy sources.

There’s A Massive Hurdle To Overcome

So yes, it is indeed a carbon-neutral process, since the entire cycle theoretically doesn’t add any additional carbon dioxide to what already exists in the atmosphere. Job done, the future of mankind is saved, without even the need for EVs, right? Not quite! That’s because our current and significant limitation is the current production output.

The world’s first e-fuel plant, which is backed by Porsche, opened in Chile in 2021. The problem is, while Porsche aims to scale up production to 550 million liters annually (145 million gallons), that’s still a tiny fraction of the 146.29 billion gallons that the United States consumed in 2019.

E-fuels won’t replace pure EVs, but when the technology does get support–especially since it essentially makes the ICE-powered cars on our roads today carbon-neutral, the most likely scenario is that it will most likely supplant the push towards EVs as part of a multi-solution approach to solving climate change. The only problem is that almost every automaker and government leader is going all-in on fully electric vehicles and leaving synthetic or e-fuels on the sidelines.