What's all this about?

It inevitably had to happen - but you're looking at the first-ever Porsche 911 equipped with hybrid power. The German sports car company has had to part-electrify its sports car icon as part of the global push to reduce CO₂ emissions and as such, the new hybrid drivetrain is likely to replace the regular Carrera and S models as part of the eighth-generation 992 family's midlife update. No word yet on what this hybrid 911 development means for models with the screaming naturally aspirated engines, like the GT3 RS for instance, or even the bigger forced-induction variants like the 992 Turbo.

Crikey, this is big news indeed! What power and torque figures have we got, then?

Precisely none. This is a teaser announcement by the Stuttgart-based concern, ahead of the 911 hybrid's full reveal during its world premiere on May 28, which'll be available to watch on the Porsche channels on YouTube and LinkedIn. All Porsche says about the drivetrain is that it is "in the starting blocks" following a lengthy development programme, while the system is a "performance-focused hybrid drive".

So do we know anything concrete about it?

Well, there is one thing. It's 8.7 seconds faster around the Nürburgring than "the corresponding version of the predecessor model". As Porsche doesn't explicitly name precisely which 992 that model might be, we have to extrapolate from the hybrid's 7min 16.934secs record, which would mean a time of around 7m 25s for the older 911 - and that was roughly what the old 450hp Carrera S clocked back in 2020.

Porsche says testing at the Nordschleife has always had a special significance to the development of any 911, with the company's brand ambassador Jörg Bergmeister the man responsible for the new hybrid's searing time. The marque says the time was achieved on a test car with standard tyres plus the aero kit, with a fixed rear wing that generates increased downforce at higher speeds, which is an option that has been available for several generations of the 911 already.

Bergmeister himself said: "The new 911 has become considerably faster on the track. We have more grip, significantly more power, and the spontaneous response of the performance hybrid is a great advantage."

Sounds impressive. Anything else to add?

Just a few words from Frank Moser, the vice-president for the 911 and 718 model lines, who added: "For the first time in our icon's 61-year history, we are installing a hybrid drive system in a roadgoing 911. This innovative performance hybrid makes the 911 even more dynamic.

"We left nothing to chance during development and tested the new 911 under all sorts of conditions all over the world. From the freezing cold to scorching heat, as was the case during the final stages of testing in Dubai.

"Whether at a high drivetrain load in the demanding conditions of mountain passes or in the stop-and-go traffic of an urban environment, the new 911 has mastered even the most difficult challenges with aplomb. All in all, our engineers and test drivers clocked up more than five million kilometres (about 3.1 million miles) of development driving."

We'll obviously bring you more details on the revised 992-model 911, including the hybrid, as soon as have them.