Fresh reports suggest the all-new replacement for the plug-in hybrid Porsche 918 Spyder hypercar due in 2023 will be powered by an advanced V6 turbo hybrid powertrain that was originally conceived for Porsche's still-born Formula 1 project.
Back in March this year Porsche boss Oliver Blume confirmed that a new Porsche hypercar was in the works, and it was thought the follow-up to the 918 would switch to pure-electric power.
Now, according to Autocar, the German Aston Valkyrie fighter could use a powertrain developed for Porsche's ill-fated F1 racer.
Porsche's battery-powered hypercar is on ice, says the Brit mag, due to internal concerns that even the latest solid-state battery technology developed by its Volkswagen parent company may not deliver Porsche's weight, efficiency or even range targets until the second half of this decade.
Since the next Porsche hyercar is scheduled for 2023, engineers have been forced to reconsider a petrol-electric powertrain, with the 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 hybrid developed for Porsche's aborted return to F1 now reportedly in hot contention.
Designed, developed and engineered by Porsche Motorsport, the new Porsche hypercar will be a direct rival for the $4 million Mercedes-AMG ONE that is powered by an F1-derived powertrain.
However, Daimler's sold-out racer for the road has reportedly been pushed back to 2021 due to difficulties in making its F1-style engine, which will require rebuilding every 50,000km, meet Europe's latest WLPT emissions regs.
It's reported that the F1-powered Porsche hypercar would also help the famous German sports car maker fight Aston Martin and Toyota in the newly-formed Hypercar LMP1 class.
As well as the F1 engine, engineers were originally considering using the 2.0-litre V4 hybrid from the Le Mans-winning Porsche 919 LMP1 race car, but Autrocar says those plans were dropped in favour of the smaller and more advanced F1 donk, which is said to be more durable for road use.
To help develop the new high-tech electrified powertrain, engineers are said to be likely to join forces with Rimac – the Croatian-based pure-electric hypercar-maker Porsche now owns a 15.5 per cent shareholding in.
There's no word on power outputs for the Porsche hypercar but it will be a matter of pride that it will weigh less than the 1000kg Mercedes-AMG ONE and produce significantly more power than its 746kW 1.6-litre V6 hybrid powertrain.