At a time when all sports cars are going electric or, at best, hybrid, Porsche, McLaren and Ferrari have already taken the step. At the time, it was referred to as the “Holy Trinity”, the three extreme supercars of the Porsche 918 Spyder, Ferrari LaFerrari and McLaren P1.

Today we’re going to look at the Porsche 918 Spyder, a plug-in hybrid supercar produced from 2013 to 2015. It was a sort of replacement for the Carrera GT, without the V10. The 918 is powered by a V8 engine supported by two electric motors.

It was first presented at the 80th Geneva Motor Show, held in March 2010, and unveiled in its final form at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2013. It sold for less than €800,000 at launch, less than its rivals the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari, both of which cost over €1 million. Just think, the Porsche is “the cheapest of the lot”.

But this did not mean that it was the least successful of the three, quite the contrary. The chassis consists of a PFRC (carbon fibre reinforced plastic) monocoque and rear engine cradle, and an aluminium front frame. The body is also made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic to save weight.

The 918 Spyder is powered by a uniquely configured plug-in hybrid system, which includes a 610 horsepower 4.6-liter V8 engine and two electric motors. One is at the front, the other at the rear, and together they develop more than 200 kW (265 hp), bringing the total power to 875 hp.

A number of performances and track records have been achieved in the 918 Spyder.

Porsche announced on 10 September 2013 that it had completed the northern loop of the
Nürburgring with a time of 6 min 57 s, with a 918 Spyder equipped with the Weissach package. It was driven by Marc Lieb, the brand’s factory driver, who achieved an average speed of 179.5 km/h. It has the third fastest time among road-legal cars.

Even today, the Porsche 918 Spyder is the latest hypercar from Porsche. The new car is expected to arrive by 2025 and is expected to introduce completely new technologies, like the 918 in its day with its revolutionary PHEV engine.

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