The Porsche 919 Hybrid for Dummies.

Image: Dave Davies

No disrespect to our knowledgeable readers  but we have just received a press release from Porsche that is verging on comprehensible, even to this Muppet !

The Porsche 919 has two different energy recovery systems (ERS), and they  tell us that it is the most complex race car they have ever built. No surprise there then! They also describe it as their fastest mobile research laboratory for their future road cars . So expect to see this technology in the not too distant future in your shopping Porsche. The 919 is trimmed right down for extreme performance and above all efficiency.

It has two energy recovery  systems: a kinetic energy recovery system that works under braking (MGU-K) and the second one that recovers energy via the exhaust (MGU-H) when accelerating. This is all very new to Porsche themselves and of course ‘interesting’ territory for the drivers!

The energy from the MGU-K ( pay attention at the back.. that is the braking energy one) is stored in liquid cooled lithium-ion battery packs and when the driver wants to use this power he calls upon the electric motor that drives the front wheels. In the meantime the MGU-H power comes via the ‘internal combustion engine’ which is a 2.0 litres V4 direct injection jobbie putting out an impressive 500 bhp and that drives the back wheels so bingo you have four wheel drive.

One final mind boggling statistic is that the 919 is allowed to use 4.78 megajoules per lap here at Spa. If you convert this into kilowatt hours (kWh), which is the common unit of measurement for normal households, you get 1.33 kWh, stick with me.. the punchline is coming.  The Six Hours of Spa is run over approximately 170 laps, during this time each of the 919 Hybrids will produce 226.1 kWh and this would be the same amount of electrical energy that a German household uses during an entire month during the summer.  To use the immortal  words of the late David Coleman “ Quite remarkable”! 

Jock Simpson