tj90

I was reading an article tonight from Spring 2005 and the author mentioned that Porsche was working on a hybrid car. The car was going to use a Toyota powerplant. I know the thought of a porsche hybrid to the 993 gang is about as polarizing as "Hillary in '08", but I was curious if anyone knew more about this. I cant recall any mention of a porshce hybrid program - maybe it was rumor and no more.... Only thing Ive heard under development is the Panamera and new CGT concept...

NightFlyer

I haven't heard of that but I think it's a good idea. As much as we don't want to admit it, fossil fuels are only going to last so long. Maybe at the end of this century car enthusiast will be comparing the size of their batteries and electric motors on rennlist.

bpoteat

I agree with nightflyer. While there is something that draws us to it, something primal about the internal combustion engine - the sound, the feel, just the way it works, it is very old technology and it uses a dwindling energy supply. Even if we make them more efficient, we are still going to run out of the stuff at some point, which means the price is just going to get higher and higher (supply and demand, ya know).

So, as we find some other means of technology to propel us, hopefully it will be as engaging to and easily tinkered with by gear-heads as the internal combustion is. It will certainly be an interesting development.

Jukelemon

Well, there IS something extremely cool about hearing those combustion sounds BUT it is just as cool to plane a 30 ft Sail Boat on nothing but the whistle in your ears ( :

Point being, electro magnetics COULD propel a car faster than anything in history. Just expensive to do. 0-60 in 4 flat without any sound would be pretty cool as well ( :

bpoteat

Sure would - http://www.teslamotors.com/

N51

According to what I've read, Porsche is suppose to be working on a hybrid Cayenne. Organic Pepper, anyone?

Noah

TMc993

A friend of mine was at an event in Atlanta last week and the CEO of PNA (Sorry, the name escapes me) was there. They were discussing the Cayenne and the CEO said that Porche would be bringing a hybird model of the Cayenne to the U.S. next year. Apparently, the vehicle is in its final configuration and going through the final testing/tweaking.

Martin993

There is an article on the german Porsche web page.
It tells that there will be a Hybrid version of the Cayenne available within this decade.
Volkswagen and Porsche are working together on the powerplant.
They do expect a gasmilage of about 26 mpg.

Martin

pcar964

Wrong. First off, they're not "fossil fuels," that is a myth. Secondly, there is no reason to believe oil is a scarce resource, other than 1) the controlling interests who keep price artificially high due to "scarcity," and 2) politicians who want to paint it as scarce to further their own political interests.

Not that I'll change any minds, but I just like to get my ideas out on the forum so the intelligent members don't feel like they're alone in a sea of lemmings.

Jim W

Not only that, but humans are pretty good at solving problems. I think we will have the internal combustion engine with us for a while. The fuel may come from a different souce as needed. A lot of the alternatives seem goofy now, but I know a company that is working on a fuel cell vehicle that burns hydrogen made as needed (no storage) from a water / magnesium reaction. Development being done with NASA/Jet Propulsion Labs. Cool stuff.

Red rooster

pcar964 is apsolutely correct . When I was a kid going to school in the early 60s it was widely reported by experts, that gas would finish by the 1990s !

The major driving force for European car makers is the EU requirement that average group CO2 limits will be 120g/km maximum by 2012.
That means smaller motors + turbos + hybrid etc,etc. The Holy grail is Hydrogen power but that is real hard to get into mass production. All this future stuff is interesting to see how it all comes around.

Geoff

tj90

I first heard that oil did not come from dinosaurs last year. I did more research and wouldnt you know, that is a theory that is gaining traction!

-Funny Im talking about dinosaurs on my 996th post!

Svaha

Now that is funny tj90!

bpoteat

As for the term "fossil fuels", it's just a term, not intended to be politcally loaded either way. If you knew what energy source to which I was referring, then my point was made. And, whether or not it is scarce, it IS a limited resource - it's not being currently produced. That's an unarguable fact, and there is nothing 'wrong' about it. Whether or not they run out sooner or later than anybody estimates is irrelevant. If we keep using them, they WILL run out and we might as well put a little effort into finding alternative sources (and, no, I don't think batteries, which also use a limited resource, are the answer - mabye fuel cells, but that's another story).

As someone who does contracting for one of the largest engineering firms in the world that specializes in oil excavating mechanisms (off-shore oil rigs), I can tell you that the price of oil is only slightly modified by any political motivations. The price is steadily rising because it is getting harder to find. That's not my opinion, that's the reality of it.

Yes, I think, as someone else suggested, that humans will figure out a means to continue moving. And it won't be from the people sticking their head in the sand repeating 'oil will last forever, la, la, la' over and over.

And, as someone who works in research for both the oil industry and in fuel cell technology, I take some offense to the suggestion that my post was either unintelligent or had any type of political slant. As a matter of fact, your post sounded much more political than mine. I'm an engineer and, by nature and trade, enjoy studying all forms of technology, new and old.

Whether or not it is in our lifetime, unless we can figure out a way to actually produce oil, it WILL run out and a new technology will have to replace it (unless we just give up on distance travelling). We might as well start thinking about it now. Hell, even if it doesn't run out, what's the harm in trying to come up with a BETTER, more efficient, less expensive, and possibly more powerful solution? Why on earth would that be considered a BAD thing?

JFScheck

Better off to use "Carbon" based fuels when talking about Diesel, Gas, etc...

This will cover "Dino and Bio" carbon based fuels - the difference is one sat in the ground for a few years and the other was recently grown...