Supercar.Superbuild.S01E01.Porsche.918.Spyder
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00:00The machines are iconic, the badge legendary.
00:11For over a hundred years, Porsche has successfully built petrol-based sports cars.
00:17But now worldwide fossil fuel reserves are dwindling.
00:23Danger looms just over the horizon.
00:26The question was not how could a super sports car look like.
00:29The basic question was, is there a future of the super sports car at all?
00:35To endure, a team of elite engineers bravely faces the future.
00:40The brand core is racing in sports cars and without the core you cannot survive.
00:45The survival of the company requires reimagining the very concept of the sports car.
00:51Companies like Porsche need a halo car, a car that showcases new technologies.
00:58The brand's future hinges on transforming technology engineered for economy and turning
01:04it into pure speed.
01:09The result?
01:10The Porsche 918 Spyder.
01:29In the early 21st century, global oil prices surge.
01:35Instantaneously the automotive landscape changes.
01:38Fuel economy is important because of emissions.
01:39Frankly, the more fuel you burn, the more you're going to emit.
01:42The European legislation in particular is looking at the total amount of gasoline a
01:46car burns.
01:48After years of ignoring environmental realities, automakers are forced to act.
01:53The times have changed.
01:55The questions which are asked by the public are totally different.
02:01As fuel economy numbers move to the forefront of consumers' minds, thirsty sports car sales
02:06plummet.
02:08This is a company that's known for its sports cars.
02:10It now does make SUVs, it makes sedans, but it's the sports cars that define this company.
02:16Overnight, the brand's flagship vehicle, the 911, is in danger of becoming a relic.
02:23The future of Porsche is at an impasse.
02:26Everybody is discussing about energy resources and environmental pollution.
02:32Porsche's answer is to boldly introduce a radical new concept car at the 2010 Geneva
02:38Motor Show.
02:39We had the plan to show that a super high performance car can also be super efficient.
02:46The 918 Spyder concept car immediately blows the audience away.
02:51The audience did not expect what they see.
02:53Nobody wanted to believe that it is possible to have one of the best super sports cars
02:58in the world, but on the other hand, having a car which is consuming energy like a mid-sized
03:03car.
03:04The machine represents an attempt to make a leaner and more importantly greener kind
03:09of super car.
03:10When this show car is projected, also a technical concept is lying behind it.
03:15It's something that the board of directors say, well, this is what we want to do.
03:19Finally the 918 is greenlit for production.
03:24This is a task I knew it will be the next step of super car in Porsche.
03:29From the very first day, the hope that it is not just a show car, but that it becomes
03:34also serious production.
03:39The target is to have the first machine roll off the assembly line in just over three years.
03:44This is a very short time to hit all the deadlines.
03:49There's only one problem.
03:53The team behind it doesn't know if they can actually produce it.
03:58There was a clear vision where to go, but in fact no technical solution.
04:04So we sat down on the table a couple of days after the Geneva Motor Show and said, okay,
04:09it seems to be we have to make this car.
04:12How can we do it?
04:15Dr. Frank Wassler is the man leading the team transforming a show car into a living, breathing
04:22hyper car.
04:23If people know their target and they can visualize it, then it's clear in their mind every day
04:30that we have a very, very tough schedule.
04:33So we bought this clock and it was counting down every day.
04:38Just 1,095 days to reinvent the automotive world forever, and perhaps give the brand
04:47a new future.
04:51The difficult deadline is overshadowed by the project's lofty expectations.
04:56The board mandates two contradictory targets.
05:00The first is the economy.
05:01It must not consume more than three liters per hundred kilometers.
05:07Three liters per hundred kilometers is the equivalent to 78 miles per gallon.
05:12The second is to have the best time at the Nürburgring.
05:16In our opinion, the Nürburgring is still the principal measure for a super sports car.
05:22High performance and high fuel economy typically lie on opposite ends of the automotive spectrum.
05:32The Porsche corporate board wants a production machine that can do both.
05:36The show car had only ideas on the technology, but no really engineered solutions.
05:44Every aspect of the new machine either pushes technology forward or forces the team to create
05:51it.
05:52There was a small group of engineers working on what could be feasible, how could it work,
05:57and of course we had the designers making interior, exterior design.
06:01You have the design and then the hard work starts because you have to fight it through
06:06with the engineers, production people and everything.
06:12The big challenge in making a supercar with all this hybrid technology in it is how do
06:16you make it all fit within existing supercars?
06:19You can't have a supercar the size of a bus.
06:25To meet the deadline, engineers borrow concepts from two of the most famous Porsche platforms
06:30ever built.
06:32The ultra-exclusive and hallowed Carrera GT supercar and the highly successful RS Spider
06:42Le Mans prototype.
06:43We have learned a lot of things in the racing and we have also learned a lot of things in
06:48the Carrera GT.
06:51This experience and this knowledge we brought together in the 918.
06:59Only 1,720 units of the Carrera GT were ever built.
07:05The machine's value doesn't lie in its exclusivity, but rather the carbon fibre used to build
07:11the machine's monocoque frame.
07:14Engineers decide that in order to satisfy the 918's two performance targets, they must
07:19use a similar strategy to save weight.
07:24The key enemy for a sports car is weight.
07:29The concept had to be that the car has to be super light.
07:35The team also borrows the engine technology derived from the RS Spider racing machine.
07:40We have to take a race-bred engine, our V8 engine from our successful race car.
07:47A 608 horsepower naturally aspirated V8 engine.
07:53The proposed powertrain combines the Porsche racing V8 with two electric motors.
07:59It was clear that we want to have three power plants, the combustion engine and two electrical
08:05motors, but it was not clear what electrical motors we have to use, where we can get it,
08:10what cooling is necessary, what power supply is necessary.
08:13What is the task of the realisation phase?
08:16In the beginning, we had no idea, but we just started to make it.
08:34When you look at the 918 Spider, you can't help but go, oh my god, are they really going
08:38to build this?
08:40There was a lot of passion in the PUC.
08:43We showed the world it will work.
08:47I remember the first days of the serious project, I met the guys from the production first,
08:53and they said, oh my god, you cannot build this.
08:55And I said, yes, we can.
08:56We will find a solution.
09:02The theory is clear.
09:03The course of action is not.
09:08There are less than 700 days left for Porsche to reinvent the supercar, a race the company
09:15can't afford to lose.
09:17We really invested heavily and a lot of time in details of the design, as this will be
09:23a blueprint for the next sports cars.
09:26It's for sure, from a technology point of view, the most ambitious project in the industry.
09:33Although the Porsche brand is known for petrol-based sports cars, it has a unique history with
09:38electric motors.
09:40When Ferdinand Porsche started to build his first cars, he used already electric motors.
09:45He thought perhaps an e-motor is more reliable than a combustion engine.
09:50In 1900, Ferdinand Porsche builds the world's first electric car.
09:58It featured a 2.5 horsepower electric motor and conceptually was ahead of its time.
10:04In the year 1900, there were a lot of people thinking about electrical motors will be
10:09the answer.
10:10But they had also the big problem where to store the energy.
10:14And batteries were unbelievably heavy.
10:18Fast forward more than a century and engineers at Porsche again face a similar problem.
10:23The lighter a car is, the better.
10:25But for hybrid, it's again different.
10:27How big is the battery?
10:28How much energy do we carry around?
10:33Engineers determine the 918 needs a 312-cell lithium-ion battery unit that can hold 6.8
10:40kilowatt hours of power.
10:46That's the equivalent of over 2,600 AA alkaline home batteries.
10:52If the battery is too small, then you will not benefit from the power you have in the car.
11:00Engineers face a balancing act.
11:01They need powerful batteries to push the performance edge.
11:06But like in Ferdinand Porsche's day, power adds weight.
11:12The heavier the machine is, the slower it will go.
11:19A lot of people believe performance is just a number of horsepower.
11:25And this is wrong.
11:26Power-weight ratio is very important.
11:30When you're trying to determine whether or not the sports car genre can survive, no expense
11:35can be spared.
11:37Engineers liberally use carbon fiber not only on the outside, but on the inside of the machine
11:42as well.
11:44The goal?
11:45To create an extremely light body to offset the bulk of the batteries.
11:53The 918 features state-of-the-art monocoque construction.
11:57They're saying that the passenger cell and all of the main structure of the car is one
12:02piece of carbon fiber.
12:04And carbon fiber is really carbon fiber reinforced plastic.
12:07It's a composite.
12:10It's based on the biggest carbon fiber monocoque in the moment in a super sports car.
12:19Carbon fiber is really carbon fiber reinforced plastic.
12:21It's a composite with carbon strands through it that's really strong and very light.
12:28Engineers count every kilo, even in places you may never expect.
12:34You're looking for a fast step on the Nurburgring, you have to optimize everything.
12:40The wheels are engineered for both speed and efficiency.
12:45Built from lightweight magnesium, they are collectively 14 kilograms lighter than traditional
12:50wheels.
12:55Look at this wheel, which is the slimmest possible wheel you could do with a very, very
12:59special design.
13:00It was another thing where we didn't really know whether it would be strong enough to
13:03put all the power on the ground.
13:17The result is a chassis and crash structure which weighs a scant 220 kilograms.
13:26With full bodywork, powertrain and batteries, the 918 tips the scale at less than 1,700
13:34kilos.
13:37The powertrain is the heaviest part of the 918, so engineers put their racing-derived
13:42V8 engine on a diet inside a computer environment.
13:49Here is the assembly area from the engine department.
13:52So all the prototype engines were built here before they went into the cars.
13:59We took basically every part and thought about how we could make it lighter.
14:04Maybe you can make this a little bit thinner or maybe another material.
14:10To save weight, the engine uses titanium connecting rods, a carbon-fibre airbox and an oil channel
14:17that runs inside of the crankshaft.
14:22With the calculations complete, the team tests the new V8 on a state-of-the-art dyno.
14:29High-rev engine, that was one of the targets.
14:30We wanted to make it 9,000 rpm.
14:36On the other hand, we wanted to have a very light engine.
14:42The most emotional engine that we could think of.
14:47The team places all that emotion inside the chassis with pure performance in mind.
14:52The general layout of the car, the space where we put in the battery, where the engine is,
14:57where the gearbox is, where the driver is sitting and then lower everything to make
15:01the car as stiff as possible.
15:05Nearly 80% of the machine's weight sits below the centreline of the car, helping it achieve
15:10tremendous cornering speeds on a racetrack.
15:13If your layout is right, then you have the best chance to make a really fast car.
15:20Many auto manufacturers strive to build machines with an equal 50-50 weight distribution between
15:26the front and the rear of the machine.
15:33The 918 is different.
15:36Porsche's engineering team decides to put 57% of the machine's weight in the back.
15:44A historical nod to the company's 911 rear-engine knowledge base.
15:49While the future of the sports car might be in question, the Porsche philosophy is not.
15:58From the very beginning, Porsche has specialised in sporty machines that have the engine in
16:03the wrong place compared to conventional cars.
16:07In the back of the 918 Spyder is a fairly conventional hybrid system.
16:11That means it's a V8 engine that makes all kinds of noises.
16:16It's one of the lightest engines in the Porsche stable, weighing just 140 kilograms.
16:25As the team continues to refine the V8 engine, other engineers turn their attention to the
16:30two cutting-edge electric motors.
16:34There's an electric motor that can start the engine, or it can power the car.
16:41In the back of the car, engineers pair a 156-horsepower electric motor with the V8.
16:51They design the proposed electric power plant in yet another virtual environment.
16:57Then they test it in the real world on a unique set of dynos.
17:02The cool bit is up front, where you'd normally have wheels that just steer and brake, there's
17:06an electric motor up there too, and that can power the car.
17:09Having an electric motor in the front and this combination of electric and gas in the
17:12back makes the 918 Spyder four-wheel drive and really fast.
17:19That 129-horsepower electric motor comes to life inside the ZF factory in Friedrichshafen,
17:26Germany.
17:29The process starts with the assembly of the engine stator.
17:33It's one of two key components that make up an electric motor.
17:37The motor uses electricity to create magnetic fields that move around in a circle.
17:43A stator is the device that creates this force, and it encourages the rotor, which is connected
17:48to the wheels, to follow it.
17:50We are in the factory for the first production step of our stator.
17:55A technician places a lamination stack inside a welding machine.
18:00The stack looks like a solid piece, but it's actually 200 sheets of metal.
18:08We start with connecting the coils up to the yoke, 24 coils on one yoke.
18:20It makes one stator in every 180 seconds.
18:25Each bundle has 50 windings of wire.
18:32The wires are brazed, a process where solder is heated up to 650 degrees Celsius in order
18:38to connect two electrodes together.
18:41We go down to one tenth, 1.5 tenths of a millimetre in tolerance, a third of the thickness of
18:47a human hair, for example.
18:51The stator looks complicated, but it's actually the easy part.
18:57The rotor is the challenge.
18:59It houses the stator.
19:02Its job is to use electricity and magnetic force to create movement.
19:07These red parts here, this is the stator, and here we have the rotor, the outer part
19:12that's rotating.
19:13The rotor uses 32 very special magnets to do it.
19:17The force of these magnets we use is about 40 to 60 times higher than the magnets you
19:21would use on a refrigerator.
19:23They are responsible for the power, the torque you get out of this electric system.
19:27Those magnets are held in check, not by bolts, but rather glue.
19:41After the stator and rotor are joined, it's time to install the torque damper and the
19:47flywheel.
19:50Finally, the electric motor is ready to be packaged and shipped off to Zuffenhausen,
19:55Germany.
19:56Even if they have the nominal same figure, electric motors are more powerful than a combustion
20:02engine.
20:03It takes months to sort out the revolutionary three-engine setup.
20:08However, the solution presents engineers with a new issue.
20:13We need to keep the battery cool, therefore we decided to bring all the heat sources away
20:19from the battery as far as possible, and that was the birthday of our top pipes.
20:24The placement of the pipes is form following function.
20:28Having the exhaust exit from the top of the machine allows both the V8 and the battery
20:34to occupy the same space without overheating.
20:36The top pipes are an extremely clever solution, and design-wise it's really good.
20:41We thought, what's the shortest way from the exhaust valves to the outside of the car?
20:47In this simulation model, you can see the effects of the hot exhaust air coming out
20:52of the top pipes.
20:54The placement of the exhaust pipes solves the heat issue and helps the aerodynamics,
20:59but it also creates yet one more challenge.
21:05The exhaust gas exceeds 900 degrees Celsius, which will melt the carbon fiber exterior,
21:14so the team has to tune the airflow to avoid conflict.
21:20When flowing downwards, the air cools down due to the surrounding flow.
21:26The colleagues from aerodynamics can calculate a lot, and that made it much easier to check
21:29if it will work without having a real car in front of you.
21:34In theory, the 918 is now light, powerful and efficient.
21:40However, there's still one massive hurdle for the team to cross.
21:47They still need to test it in the real world.
21:55The end is in sight for team 918 as they race towards a tightening deadline.
22:04After over a year of research and development, they're finally ready to build a working prototype.
22:12Now it's time to test the machine in the real world.
22:17With nearly 900 horsepower in a three-engine vehicle that weighs just under 1,700 kilograms,
22:24the word fast may not do the 918 justice.
22:30But team 918 still isn't sure how they'll control all that power.
22:36We talk days and hours on the driving modes, how they should feel like and how the differentiation should be.
22:48They test the cutting-edge driving modes in extreme environments
22:57and take prototypes to Sweden,
23:02Africa
23:08and Las Vegas.
23:12We test it for 100,000 miles.
23:17We have new technology on board that makes it really, really complicated.
23:20But we learned week by week, day by day, hour by hour, how to test a hybrid.
23:27After months of trial and error, five driving modes are chosen,
23:32each activated via buttons on the steering wheel.
23:35We talk in particular about four positions of this map switch called E, H, S and R.
23:43By default, the 918 starts in e-power mode as a fully electric front-wheel drive only machine.
23:50With this e-drive mode, the normally aspirated engine is not running.
23:56If a driver pushes beyond 150 kilometers an hour or if the batteries run low,
24:01the V8 engages and the 918 becomes a hybrid.
24:05The combustion engine only kicks in when the electric motors need support.
24:11The sport mode allows the 918 to flex its muscles.
24:15We get the full power from the normally aspirated engine with boost from the e-drive system.
24:22Now, the race-bred V8 supplies the majority of the power.
24:29The combustion engine isn't the only support system that comes to life in sport hybrid mode.
24:39The sport hybrid mode also engages the 918's active aerodynamics.
24:44If you drive in a sporty way, then we tune the aerodynamics by raising our wing in the rear.
24:51The tuning is done primarily via a front lip and rear spoiler.
24:57The wing has to deal with a tremendous amount of force.
25:00We have air load at high speed from about 3,200 newtons.
25:053,200 newtons of force is equal to 326 kilograms,
25:12the weight of not one German scientist, but three.
25:19The active aerodynamics also help redirect air flow under the machine.
25:28Next comes race mode.
25:31It's really a very performant mode.
25:34In race mode, both the combustion and electric motors are geared for maximum performance.
25:42We actually get out everything possible from the e-drive system,
25:45even beyond the edges of the original design criteria.
25:49Active aerodynamics also go to the extreme in race mode.
25:53In race mode, you want to have the most downforce possible,
25:57and we do that by inclining the wing eight degrees.
26:00Downforce is an engineering trick that uses the force of air to push a sports car against the ground.
26:09At the centre of the driving mode selector is a red button,
26:12which allows drivers to engage the fifth and final drive mode, the hot lap.
26:18That is the mode for the hot laps on the Nürburgring.
26:21Pressing the red button literally throws caution to the wind, or at least fuel economy.
26:27All three engines are allowed to go to the max.
26:36None of the computers care about preserving battery charge.
26:40Pushing the 918 to its 339 kmph top speed.
26:46People associate hybrid with slow, and that's going to change big time.
26:50The Porsche team has raced against time to meet their design and efficiency goals.
26:56Only one target is left.
26:58Everything comes down to lap time on the Nürburgring.
27:01The lap time is very important for us,
27:03because the Nürburgring for us is the basic measure for a super sports car.
27:09The Nürburgring is the longest track in the world.
27:12This was an old Grand Prix circuit that is ultimately too dangerous to race on.
27:17But, because the Germans love speed so much,
27:19they open it to the public and they also open it for development.
27:22Located 84 km from Cologne, Germany, the Nürburgring is hallowed ground for automakers.
27:30If you do 5,000 km on the Nürburgring, it's the same like you make 60,000 on the open road.
27:36A lap of the Nürburgring is every bad road you've ever driven on,
27:39plus every good road you've ever driven on,
27:41plus every amazing track you've ever driven on.
27:43And doing a lap gives you all these different conditions
27:45and really tests a car to its limits.
27:47A car what is good on the Nürburgring is good everywhere.
27:51Any brand who wants to make a perfect car comes back to Nürburgring.
27:58No street-legal production car has ever cracked a seven-minute lap time.
28:03We had less than five real serious attempts to make this record time.
28:09We have been working towards this day very hard.
28:13You know so many things can go wrong.
28:18After just over 1,000 days, everything comes down to just 48 hours.
28:25One lap, you have to prove everything of the car.
28:28One lap, you have to prove everything of the car.
28:33On the first day, the 918 falls short of expectations
28:38and a sub-seven-minute lap time.
28:41The fastest time of our race drivers was 7.09, 7.07, 7.06,
28:45and then I went in the car and made 7.04.
28:50On day two, the team brings in professional racer Marc Lieb,
28:54a four-time 24 Hours of Nürburgring winner.
28:58I was sure on the next day if the condition is good,
29:02I said to Marc, you will go under seven.
29:04It's no problem at all.
29:28The second lap was 6 minutes and 57 seconds.
29:34I said, listen, boys, think of this day in 38 years.
29:38The boys said, why? In 38 years, you are as old as I am today.
29:43The final lap time, 6 minutes and 57 seconds.
29:48I was so nervous.
29:51I was so nervous.
29:53The final lap time, 6 minutes and 57 seconds.
29:59The fastest lap ever for a street-legal car
30:03around the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
30:06This is a number which nobody could imagine,
30:09let's say, even five years ago.
30:11The 918 has the rare ability to be both a daily driver
30:15and a supercar.
30:17But now the team has to start building it for customers.
30:21And to do that, they'll need a cutting-edge factory.
30:27It's taken a team of engineers and designers
30:30just over 1,000 days to perfect the 918 supercar.
30:39Now they need to figure out how to build it.
30:42Zuffenhausen, Germany, has been both the spiritual
30:45and literal home of the brand
30:47since 1950.
30:53Inside of these hallowed halls,
30:55Michael Drolshagen is the man in charge of 918 production.
31:00The 918 Spyder is a handmade product.
31:03We have no automation inside the workshop.
31:08For years, the Porsche Way has targeted assembly methods
31:12that maximize production efficiency.
31:14We have to figure out how we can produce a car
31:16without the equipment of mass production,
31:19but to use mass production tools
31:22to improve the highest standard of quality we can get.
31:27The biggest challenge was to implement the new technology.
31:35It's not only one technology,
31:37it's not only hybrid technology inside the car.
31:39It's not only one technology,
31:41it's not only hybrid technology inside the car.
31:48The monocoque is the first piece of cutting-edge technology
31:51to arrive at the factory.
31:57It's just one of hundreds of new technologies in the car.
32:01New tech that requires an extremely efficient factory layout.
32:05Keep in mind, we have only 4,000 meters in square available
32:08for the complete pre-production and production of the 918 Spyder.
32:13It's a tiny space to handcraft a cutting-edge car.
32:18So Drolshagen splits the entire process in half.
32:23On the one side, you have the mainline
32:25and on the other side, you have the rear.
32:28On the one side, you have the mainline
32:31and on the other hand, the pre-assembly of all our parts.
32:35The first half of the process begins with pre-assembly
32:38and the heart of the 918,
32:40the 4.6 liter, 608 horsepower,
32:43direct-injected internal combustion V8 engine.
32:47We are right now in the engine area
32:49where we produce all our engines for the 918 Spyder.
32:52We pimped it up for the 918.
32:54It's a 918 color acid cream.
32:58While the 918 is ultra-modern
33:02and filled with new technology,
33:05the combustion engine assembly line
33:08is absolutely traditional.
33:10We have seven stations to build an engine.
33:13Every engine is built by one person.
33:16It takes the engine builder 20 hours
33:19to bring a Porsche V8 to life.
33:23The V8 has been modified to be as light as possible.
33:26The thickness of the wall here is around 3 millimeters aluminum.
33:30That's nearly the width of a line drawn by a pencil.
33:35The entire power plant weighs just 140 kilograms.
33:42It's more than 100 kilograms lighter than a 911 engine.
33:47Another key area in pre-assembly
33:50is the leather trim department.
33:56As you can see here,
33:58we produce our leather parts handmade
34:00in around eight hours.
34:02It takes twice as long to handcraft a 918 interior
34:05compared to mass-produced Porsches.
34:08Everything from seat pads to sun visors
34:11is hand-stitched with the greatest of care.
34:16The sun visor, we stitch 220 stitches
34:19in more than 90 minutes.
34:23Once pre-assembly is finished,
34:25the 918 begins to take form on the mainline.
34:31We build the car on the engine,
34:33then we fit the parts from inside to outside.
34:37Working inside-out is one of the unique concepts
34:40behind building the 918.
34:44The first step is connecting the V8 engine
34:47to the rear electric motor and the dual-clutch gearbox.
34:55What Porsche calls the PDK transaxle.
35:08The traditional hybrid powertrain
35:10is housed in the rear half of the monocoque,
35:13which is both light and strong.
35:17But isn't structurally sound
35:19until the engine is bolted into it.
35:22This is like a bridge for the engine
35:24to fit the engine cradle
35:26together with the engine,
35:28the gearbox and the electric drive.
35:31Three screws on each side
35:33turn the engine into a structural component
35:36for the vehicle.
35:40Then the whole powertrain unit
35:42joins the front half of the carbon-fibre monocoque
35:45at station two.
35:50The engine comes alive
35:52once both halves of the machine are put together.
35:55We are now at the third station
35:57where we start to build up the car
35:59from inside to outside.
36:01As you can see with the tubes,
36:03wiring harness, air intakes and so on.
36:06Here the monocoque can be lifted
36:08and moved to fit intricate systems
36:10like the wiring harness.
36:12The monocoque is 140kg
36:14and it's exactly the same weight as the engine.
36:18Minimising the weight of both the engine
36:21and the monocoque is one of the keys
36:23to the 918's performance on a racetrack.
36:26Another is keeping the centre of gravity low.
36:32So they put the heaviest part of the car
36:34in the bottom –
36:36the battery.
36:38This hole you can see here
36:40is for the high-voltage battery
36:44and the cable is connected
36:46to the front electric drive here.
36:48Once they finish wiring the battery
36:50the 918 is ready
36:52for the last of its three powerplants
36:55the front electric engine.
36:58It arrives at the line already
37:00pre-assembled to the front suspension.
37:09We have three halves inside the car
37:11the V8 engine and two electric drives
37:15and we have a four-wheel drive
37:17by cable.
37:19There is no traditional drive shaft
37:21connecting the engine to all four wheels.
37:23The four-wheel drive system
37:25is run by a cable.
37:27The computer can continually
37:29vary the power split
37:31between the front and rear wheels.
37:33What you can see here
37:35is the brake system of the 918 Spyder.
37:41They very carefully install
37:43the rear brakes by hand.
37:45Custom Brembo ceramic rotors
37:47work in concert
37:49with the electric drive system
37:51to recuperate energy.
37:53The big advantage of the cars
37:55you have not only the standard braking system available
37:57you have in addition
37:59two braking systems with the two electric drives.
38:01While the 887 horsepower
38:03pushes the 918
38:05to an insane top speed
38:09the regenerative braking system
38:11can convert stopping energy
38:13into 230 kilowatts of power.
38:17That's enough power to run
38:19183 American houses.
38:21The benefit of a hybrid system
38:23is that you're recapturing
38:25a lot of the energy that would have gone wasted
38:27into braking.
38:29Slam on the brakes
38:31and the 918 goes from 100 kilometers an hour
38:33to a dead stop
38:35in 28.6 meters
38:37roughly two-fifths the wingspan
38:39of a 747 jumbo jet.
38:42Once the mechanical pieces
38:44are set
38:46the 918 receives its bodywork.
38:50Now the machine
38:52is ready for perhaps its most famous part
38:54the badge
38:56a symbol that combines
38:58the historic colors of southern Germany
39:00and a black stallion
39:02which has been an iconic fixture
39:04in Stuttgart's coat of arms
39:06since the 14th century.
39:08But the 918 isn't quite finished
39:10it still needs a very important
39:12alignment check
39:14because the rear axles feature
39:16electromechanical actuators
39:18that enable it to do something unique
39:20steer the car from the very back
39:22the rear wheels can turn
39:24up to three degrees
39:26in the same direction as the front wheels
39:28for enhanced stability at high speeds.
39:30Finally, after three years
39:32of research and development
39:34and countless hours on the assembly line
39:36the very first 918
39:38ever built, serial number
39:40001 is ready
39:42a car intended for Ferdinand
39:44Porsche's grandson.
39:56The very last station on the line
39:58is one of the most unique in the automotive world
40:00because it's the quietest
40:02and perhaps one of the most
40:04expensive.
40:06The 918 has a base price
40:08of 636,000 euros
40:10I think that most
40:12automotive engineers are hedging their bets
40:14and saying right now
40:16electricity is probably the best way
40:18for us to go for all of our cars
40:20Turn the key and the latest Porsche
40:22supercar simply hums along
40:24with the electric engines
40:26doing all the work
40:28You're not buying a 918 Spider
40:30to go as slow as possible in traffic
40:32and use the least amount of fuel
40:35Everyone who buys this car
40:37is going to drive it like a total maniac
40:39because that's exactly what it was intended to do
40:57Put the pedal to the metal
40:59and all three motors come roaring
41:01to life
41:03Every time you get into an electrically powered car
41:05whether it's just a pure electric vehicle
41:07or a hybrid that's electric intense
41:09it is immediate, psychotic acceleration
41:14It's unlike any gas engine
41:16After just one wheel rotation
41:18the 918 is already going
41:20over 25 kilometers an hour
41:22The difference between
41:24turbo lag and a normally aspirated
41:26racing engine is this big
41:28The difference between a gas engine
41:30and an electric car is that big
41:32The cutting edge hybrid powertrain
41:34produces an astounding
41:36887 horsepower
41:40At its peak output
41:42the 918's three power plants
41:44produce
41:461,280 newton meters
41:48of torque
41:50The 918 catapults from 0 to
41:52100 kilometers per hour
41:54in just 2.2 seconds
41:56The 918 Spider
41:58gets to 60 faster than
42:00that
42:04At 300 kilometers an hour
42:06the 918 covers 42 meters
42:08in half a second
42:10Half the short side
42:12of a New York City block
42:16It goes 0 to 200 kilometers an hour
42:18in just 7.3 seconds
42:22Never slowing down
42:24until its maximum speed
42:26of 339 kilometers an hour
42:30The most impressive number
42:32could be its fuel economy
42:34The 918 uses just
42:363 liters per 100 kilometers
42:38Unheard of for a sports car
42:42The interesting twist on this one is that
42:44not only is it the state of the art
42:46in speed but it's also the state of the art
42:48in getting good ratings
42:50on fuel economy challenges
42:54In the end
42:56if it's then fun to drive
42:58It's really an opener for new technology
43:00and from that point of view I think the 918 Spider
43:02is an opener for
43:04really a new decade
43:06of super sports cars
43:10First it was a dream
43:12then it was a concept car
43:14now it's simply the world's fastest
43:164 wheel drive
43:18hybrid supercar
43:20It's always a challenge, it's always something interesting
43:22sometimes it's unexpected
43:24If you're working for Porsche
43:26your project would be boring
43:32It is definitely not certain that electricity
43:34is the future, it is a future I think
43:36but it looks like
43:38every probable direction is heading towards electric