One of the most exciting hybrid vehicles appearing in the future is coming from quite an unusual source.
A decade ago, it would have been unthinkable for Stuttgart sports car maker Porsche to release a hybrid, but the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid supercar is joining a much-changed range, full of SUVs, diesels and other hybrids.
Now, Lebanese car enthusiast website Biser3a has unearthed a video showing the production 918--rather than concepts like the Martini-liveried car we showed you a few days back--in all its glory.
Unlike the 918 RSR prototype also shown in the video--the more aggressive car with the orange stripes--as well as several other 918 concepts, the production car, unveiled at Canoe Studios in New York, is a little more subtle.
Its exhausts exit out the back rather than protruding through a side panel, the lighting looks a little more production-ready, but the production car still retains the intricate, racing-style center-lock alloy wheels.
Many details are similar to its supercar forebear, the Carrera GT, but as we already know, the production 918 will use a hybrid drivetrain, combining a high-performance gasoline engine with twin electric motors. A plug-in electric element will allow drivers to go emissions-free for a certain distance, contributing to potential 78 mpg economy.
Porsche is unlikely to be top of the tree for outright efficiency for quite some time, but if they can genuinely extract those numbers from a supercar, then the future looks bright for green-minded car enthusiasts.
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