All language subtitles for Supercar.Superbuild.S01E01.Porsche.918.Spyder.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-RAWR_track4_[eng]

(engine roars)

- [Narrator] The machines are iconic,

(cars zooming)

the badge legendary.

(dramatic music)

For over 100 years,

Porsche has successfully built
petrol-based sports cars.

(music continues)

But now worldwide fossil
fuel reserves are dwindling.

Danger looms just over the horizon.

- The question was not

how could a super sports car look like?

The basic question was,

is there a future of the
super sports car at all?

(engines roar)

- [Narrator] To endure,
a team of elite engineers

bravely faces the future.

- The brand core is
racing, is sports cars.

And without the core you cannot survive.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] The survival of the company

requires re-imagining the very
concept of the sports car.

- Companies like Porsche need a halo car

cars that showcase new technologies.

(engine roars)

- [Narrator] The brand's future hinges

on transforming technology
engineered for economy

and turning it into pure speed.

(engines roar)

The result, the Porsche 918 Spyder.

(car zooms)

(dramatic music)

(engine zooms)

(tires squeal)

(music continues)

In the early 21st century,
global oil prices surge.

Instantaneously, the
automotive landscape changes.

- Fuel economy is important
because of emissions.

Frankly, the more fuel you burn,
the more you're gonna emit.

The European legislation, in particular,

is looking at the total amount
of gasoline a car burns.

- [Narrator] After years of ignoring

environmental realities,
automakers are forced to act.

- The times have changed.

The questions which
are asked by the public

are totally different.

- [Narrator] As fuel economy numbers

move to the forefront of consumers' minds,

thirsty sports car sales plummet.

- This is a company that's
known for its sports cars.

It now does make SUVs. It makes sedans.

But it's the sports cars
that define this company.

- [Narrator] Overnight,

the brand's flagship vehicle, the 911,

is in danger of becoming a relic.

The future of Porsche is at an impasse.

- Everybody is discussing
about energy resources

and environmental pollution.

- [Narrator] Porsche's
answer is to boldly introduce

a radical new concept car at
the 2010 Geneva Motor Show.

- We had the plan to show that
a super high performance car

(engines roar)

can also be super efficient.

- The 918 Spyder concept car

immediately blows the audience away.

- The audience did not
expect what they see.

Nobody wanted to believe
that it is possible

to have one of the best super
sports cars in the world.

But on the other hand,

having a car which is consuming
energy like a mid-size car.

- [Narrator] The machine
represents an attempt

to make a leaner and, more importantly,

greener kind of super car.

- When this show car is projected,

also a technical concept
is lying behind it.

- It's something that the
board of directors say,

"Well, this is what we wanna do."

- Immediately, the 918 is
green lit for production.

(engine roars)

- This is a task, I knew,
it will be the next step

of super car in Porsche.

From the very first day,

the hope that it is not just a show car,

but that it becomes
also serious production.

(machinery whizzing)

- [Narrator] The target is
to have the first machine

roll off the assembly line
in just over three years.

- This is a very short time
to hit all the deadlines.

- [Narrator] There's only one problem.

The team behind it doesn't know

if they can actually produce it.

- There was a clear vision where to go,

but, in fact, no technical solution.

And so we sat down on the table

couple of days after the
Geneva Motor Show and said,

"Okay, it seems to be we
have to make this car.

Well, how can we do it?"

(engines roar)

- Dr. Frank Walliser is
the man leading the team,

transforming a show car into
a living, breathing hyper car.

- If people know their target
and they we can visualize it,

then it's clearer in their mind every day

that we have a very, very tough schedule.

So we bought this clock and it
was counting down every day.

- [Narrator] Just 1,095 days

to reinvent the automotive world forever

and perhaps give the brand a new future.

(engine screams)

The difficult deadline is overshadowed

by the project's lofty expectations.

The board mandates two
contradictory targets.

- The first is the economy.

It must not consume more than three liters

per 100 kilometers.

- [Narrator] Three
liters per 100 kilometers

is the equivalent to 78 miles per gallon.

- The second is to have the
best time at the Nurburgring.

(car zips)

In our opinion, the Nurburgring is still

the principal measure
for super sports car.

- [Narrator] High performance
and high fuel economy

typically lie on opposite ends
of the automotive spectrum.

The Porsche corporate board
wants a production machine

that can do both.

- The show car had only
ideas on the technology

but no really engineered solutions.

(light upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Every
aspect of the new machine

either pushes technology forward

or forces the team to create it.

- There was a small group of engineers

working on what could be
feasible, how could it work.

And of course, with the designers

making interior exterior design.

- You have the design, and
then the hard work starts

because you have to fight it
through with the engineers,

production people and everything.

- The big challenge in making a super car

with all this hybrid technology in it

is how do you make it all fit
within existing super cars?

You can't have a super
car the size of a bus.

(cars zooming)

- [Narrator] To meet the deadline,
engineers borrow concepts

from two of the most famous
Porsche platforms ever built,

the ultra-exclusive and
hallowed Carrera GT super car

and the highly successful

(camera clicking)

RS Spyder Le Mans prototype.

- We have learned a lot
of things in the racing,

and we have also learned a lot
of things in the Carrera GT.

This experience and this knowledge

we brought together in the 918.

(tires squeal)
(engine screams)

- [Narrator] Only 1,720
units of the Carrera GT

were ever built.

The machine's value doesn't
lie in its exclusivity,

but rather the carbon fiber

used to build the
machine's monocoque frame.

Engineers decide that in order to satisfy

the 918's two performance targets,

they must use a similar
strategy to save weight.

- The key enemy for a
sports car is weight.

(car zips)

The concept had to be that
the car has to be super light.

(dramatic music)

- The team also borrows
the engine technology

derived from the RS Spyder racing machine.

- We have to take our race-bred engine,

our V8 engine from our
successful race car.

- [Narrator] A 608-horsepower,
naturally-aspirated,

V8 engine.

(car zips)

The proposed powertrain
combines the Porsche racing V8

with two electric motors.

- It was clear that we want
to have three power plants,

the combustion engine and
two electrical motors,

but it was not clear what
electrical motors we have to use,

where we can get it, what
cooling is necessary,

what power supply is necessary.

That is the task of the realization phase.

(engine roars)

(light upbeat music)

- In the beginning, we had no idea,

but we just started to make it.

(music continues)

- When you look at the 918
Spyder, you can't help but go,

"Oh my god, are they
really gonna build this?"

(machinery whizzing)

- There was a lot of
passion, and the people said,

"We'll show the world it will work."

- I remember the first days
of the serious project,

I met the guys from the production first,

and they said, "Oh my God,
you cannot build this."

And I said, "Yes, we can.
We will find a solution."

(car zooms)

- [Narrator] The theory is clear.

The course of action is not.

(cars zooming)

There are less than 700 days left

for Porsche to reinvent the super car,

a race the company can't afford to lose.

- We really invested
heavily and a lot of time

in details of the design

as this will be a blueprint
for the next sports cars.

- It's for sure from
technology point of view,

the most ambitious
project in the industry.

- Although the Porsche brand is known

for petrol-based sports cars,

it has a unique history
with electric motors.

- When Ferdinand Porsche
started to build his first cars,

he used already electric motors.

He saw perhaps an e-motor is more reliable

than a combustion engine.

- [Narrator] In 1900,
Ferdinand Porsche builds

the world's first electric car.

It featured a 2.5-horsepower
electric motor

and, conceptually, was ahead of its time.

- In the year in 1900,
there were a lot of people

thinking about electrical
motors will be the answer,

but they had also the big problem
where to store the energy,

and batteries were unbelievably heavy.

- [Narrator] Fast forward
more than a century,

and engineers of Porsche
again face a similar problem.

- The lighter car is the better.

But for hybrid it's again different.

How big is the battery?

How much energy do we carry around?

(car zooms)

- [Narrator] Engineers determine the 918

needs a 312-cell lithium ion battery unit

that can hold 6.8 kilowatt hours of power.

(upbeat music)

That's the equivalent

of over 2,600 AA alkaline home batteries.

- If the battery is too small,
then you will not benefit

from the power you have in the car.

- [Narrator] Engineers
face a balancing act.

They need powerful batteries
to push the performance edge,

but, like in Ferdinand Porsche's
day, power adds weight.

The heavier the machine
is, the slower it will go.

(cars zooming)

- A lot of people believe performance

is just a number of horsepower,

(engine roars)

and this is wrong.

Power/weight ratio is very important.

(car zooms)

- [Narrator] When you're
trying to determine

whether or not the sports
car genre can survive,

no expense can be spared.

Engineers liberally use carbon fiber

not only on the outside,

but on the inside of the machine as well.

The goal, to create an
extremely light body

to offset the bulk of the batteries.

(dramatic music)

(car zooms)

The 918 features state-of-the-art
monocoque construction.

- I'm saying that the passenger cell

and all of the main structure of the car

is one piece of carbon fiber.

And carbon fiber is really
carbon fiber reinforced plastic.

It's a composite.

- It's based on biggest
carbon fiber monocoque

in the moment in the super sports car.

(machinery rumbles)

- Carbon fiber is really carbon
fiber reinforced plastic.

It's a composite with
carbon strands through it

that's really strong and very light.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Engineers count every kilo,

even in places you may never expect.

- We were looking for a
fast lap on the Nurburgring.

You have to optimize everything.

- [Narrator] The wheels are engineered

for both speed and efficiency.

Built from lightweight magnesium,

they are collectively 14 kilograms lighter

than traditional wheels.

(tires squealing)

(car zooms)

- If you look at this wheel,

which is the slimmest
possible wheel you could do

with a very, very special design.

It was another thing where
we didn't really know

whether it would be strong enough

to put all the power on the ground.

(engine roars)

(dramatic music)

(engine roars)

- [Narrator] The result is a
chassis and crash structure

which weighs a scant 220 kilograms.

With full body work,
powertrain and batteries.

The 918 tips the scale
at less than 1,700 kilos.

(cars zooming)

The powertrain is the
heaviest part of the 918,

so engineers put their
racing-derived V8 engine

on a diet inside a computer environment.

- Here is the assembly area
from the engine department.

So, all the prototype
engines were built here

before they went into the cars.

We took basically every part

and thought about how we
could make it lighter.

Maybe you can make this
a little bit thinner

or maybe another material.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] To save weight,

the engine uses titanium connecting rods,

a carbon fiber air box

and an oil channel that runs
inside of the crank shaft.

(engine roaring)

With the calculations complete,

the team tests the new V8
on a state-of-the-art dyno.

(engine buzzing)

- High-rev engine, that
was one of the targets.

We wanted to make it 9,000 RPM.

(engine roaring)

On the other hand, we wanted
to have a very light engine,

(car zooms)

the most emotional engine
that we could think of.

(engine roaring)

- [Narrator] The team
places all that emotion

inside the chassis with
pure performance in mind.

- The general layout of the car,

the space where we put in the battery,

where the engine is, where the gearbox is,

where the driver is sitting,

and then lower everything

to make the car as stiff as possible.

(engine roars)

- [Narrator] Nearly 80%
of the machines weight

sits below the center line of the car,

helping it achieve
tremendous cornering speeds

on a racetrack.

- If your layout is right,

then you have the best chance
to make a a really fast car.

(engine roars)

- [Narrator] Many auto manufacturers

strive to build machines

with an equal 50/50 weight distribution

between the front and
the rear of the machine.

(engines roaring)

The 918 is different.

Porsche's engineering team

decides to put 57% of the
machine's weight in the back,

(dramatic music)

a historical nod

to the company's 911
rear-engine knowledge base.

While the future of the sports
car might be in question.

The Porsche philosophy is not.

(dramatic music)

From the very beginning,

Porsche has specialized in sporty machines

that have the engine in the wrong place

compared to conventional cars.

- In the back of the 918 Spyder

is a fairly conventional hybrid system.

That means it's V8 engine

that makes all kinds of noises.

(engine roars)

- [Narrator] It's one
of the lightest engines

in the Porsche stable,
weighing just 140 kilograms.

(dramatic music)

As the team continues
to refine the V8 engine,

other engineers turn their attention

to the two cutting-edge electric motors.

- There's an electric motor
that can start the engine

or it can power the car.

(engine hums)

- [Narrator] In the back of the car,

engineers pair a 156-horsepower
electric motor with the V8.

(thud echoes)
(bell dings)

They design the proposed
electric power plant

in yet another virtual environment,

then they test it in the real world

on a unique set of dynos.

- The cool bit is up front

where you'd normally have wheels
that just steer and break.

There's an electric motor up there, too,

and that can power the car.

Having an electric motor in the front

and this combination of
electric and gas in the back

makes the 918 Spyder four-wheel
drive and really fast.

(cars zooming)

- [Narrator] That
129-horsepower electric motor

comes to life inside the ZF factory

in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

The process starts with the
assembly of the engine stator.

It's one of two key components

that make up an electric motor.

The motor uses electricity
to create magnetic fields

that move around in a circle.

A stator is the device
that creates this force,

and it encourages the rotor,

which is connected to the wheels,

to follow it.

- We are in the factory

for the first production
step of our stator.

- [Narrator] A technician
places a lamination stack

inside a welding machine.

The stack looks like a solid piece,

but it's actually 200 sheets of metal.

(machinery whirs)

- We start with connecting
the coils up to the yolk.

24 coils on one yolk.

(machinery whirring)

It makes one stator in every 180 seconds.

- [Narrator] Each bundle
has 50 windings of wire.

The wires are brazed,

a process where solder is
heated up to 650 degrees Celsius

in order to connect two
electrodes together.

- We go down to 1/10, 1.5/10
of a millimeter in tolerance,

a third of the thickness of
the human hair, for example.

- The stator looks complicated,

but it's actually the easy part.

The rotor is the challenge.

It houses the stator.

Its job is to use electricity
and magnetic force

to create movement.

- These red parts here,
this is the stator.

And here we have the rotor,
the outer part that's rotating.

- [Narrator] The rotor uses
32 very special magnets

to do it.

- The force of these magnets we use

is about 40 to 60 times
higher than the magnets

you would use on a refrigerator.

They are responsible for
the power, the torque,

you get out of this electric system.

- [Narrator] Those
magnets are held in check

not by bolts, but rather glue.

(dramatic music)

After the stator and rotor are joined,

it's time to install the
torque damper and the flywheel.

Finally, the electric motor
is ready to be packaged

and shipped off to
Zuffenhausen in Germany.

- Even if they have the
nominal, same figure,

electric motors are more powerful
than a combustion engine.

- [Narrator] It takes months to sort out

the revolutionary three-engine setup.

However, the solution presents
engineers with a new issue.

- We need to keep the battery cool.

Therefore, we decided to
bring all the heat sources

away from the battery as far as possible.

And that was the birthday
of our top pipes.

- [Narrator] The placement of the pipes

is form following function.

Having the exhaust exit
from the top of the machine

allows both the V8 and the
battery to occupy the same space

without overheating.

- The top pipes are an
extremely clever solution,

and design-wise, it's really cool.

- We thought, what's the shortest way

from the exhaust valves
to the outside of the car.

- In this simulation model,

you can see the effects
of the hot exhaust air

coming out of the top pipes.

- [Narrator] The placement
of the exhaust pipes

solves the heat issue and
helps the aerodynamics,

but it also creates
yet one more challenge.

(engine roars)

The exhaust gas exceeds
900 degrees Celsius,

(engine rumbles)

which will melt the carbon fiber exterior,

so the team has to tune the
airflow to avoid conflict.

- When flowing downwards,
the air cools down

due to the surrounding flow.

- The colleagues from
aerodynamics can calculate a lot,

and that made it much easier
to check if it'll work

without having a real car in front of you.

- In theory, the 918
is now light, powerful,

(car zooms)

and efficient.

However, there's still one massive hurdle

for the team to cross.

(cars zooming)

They still need to test
it in the real world.

(suspenseful music)

The end is in sight for Team 918

as they race towards
a tightening deadline.

After over a year of
research and development,

they're finally ready to
build a working prototype.

Now it's time to test the
machine in the real world.

With nearly 900 horsepower
in a three-engine vehicle

that weighs just under 1,700 kilograms.

The word fast may not do the 918 justice.

But Team 918 still isn't sure

how they'll control all that power.

- We talked days and hours
on the driving modes,

how they should feel like

and how the differentiation should be.

(engines roaring)

- They test the cutting-edge driving modes

in extreme environments

(engines roaring)

and take prototypes to Sweden,

(car zooms)

Africa,

(car zooms)

and Las Vegas.

- We tested for 100,000 miles.

We have new technology on board

that makes really, really complicated.

But we learned week-by-week,
day-by-day, hour-by-hour

how to test a hybrid.

- [Narrator] After months
of trial and error,

(cars zooming)

five driving modes are chosen,

each activated via buttons
on the steering wheel.

- We talked in particular
about four positions

of this map switch, called E, H, S, and R.

- [Narrator] By default, the
918 starts in E power mode

as a fully electric
front-wheel-drive-only machine.

- With the E drive mode,

the normally aspirated
engine is not running.

- [Narrator] If a driver pushes beyond

150 kilometers an hour or
if the batteries run low,

the V8 engages and the
918 becomes a hybrid.

The combustion engine only kicks in

when the electric motors need support.

(engine rumbles)

The sport mode allows the
918 to flex its muscles.

(car zooms)

- We get the full power from
the normally-aspirated engine

with boost from the E-drive system.

(car zooms)

- [Narrator] Now the race-bred
V8 supplies the majority

of the power.

(engines roaring)

The combustion engine isn't
the only support system

that comes to life in sport hybrid mode.

(engines roaring)

The sport hybrid mode also engages

the 918's active aerodynamics.

- If you drive in a sporty way,

then we tune the aerodynamics

by raising our wing in the rear.

- [Narrator] The tuning is done

primarily via a front
lip and rear spoiler.

The wing has to deal with a
tremendous amount of force.

- We have air load at high
speed from about 3,200 Newtons.

- [Narrator] 3,200 Newtons of force

is equal to 326 kilograms.

The weight of not one German scientist,

but three.

(engine roars)

The active aerodynamics
also help redirect airflow

under the machine.

(cars zooming)

Next comes race mode.

- It's really a very performant mode.

(car zooms)

- [Narrator] In race mode,

both the combustion and
electric motors are geared

for maximum performance.

- We actually get out everything possible

from the hybrid system,

even beyond the edges of the
original design criteria.

- [Narrator] Active aerodynamics
also go to the extreme

in race mode.

- For race mode, you want to have

the most downforce possible,

and we do that by inclining
the wing eight degrees.

- [Narrator] Downforce
is an engineering trick

that uses the force of air

to push a sports car against the ground.

(dramatic music)

At the center of the driving
mode selector is a red button

which allows drivers to engage

the fifth and final drive mode.

The Hot Lap.

- That is the mode for the
hot laps on the Nurburgring.

- [Narrator] Pressing the red button

literally throws caution to the wind,

or at least fuel economy.

All three engines are
allowed to go to the max.

(dramatic music)

None of the computers care
about preserving battery charge,

pushing the 918 to its 339
kilometers per hour top speed.

- People associate hybrid with slow,

and that's gonna change big time.

- [Narrator] The Porsche
team has raced against time

to meet their design and efficiency goals.

Only one target is left.

- Everything comes down to
a lap time, the Nurburgring.

The lap time is very important for us

because the Nurburgring, for us,

it's the basic measure
for a super sports car.

- The Nurburgring is the
longest track in the world.

This was an old Grand Prix circuit

that is ultimately too
dangerous to race on.

But because the Germans
love speed so much,

they open it to the public,

and they also open it for development.

- [Narrator] Located 84
kilometers from Cologne, Germany,

the Nurburgring is hallowed
ground for automakers.

- If you do 5,000 Ks on Nurburgring,

it's the same like you make
60,000 on the open road.

- A lap of the Nurburgring
is every bad road

you've ever driven on

plus every good road
you've ever driven on,

plus every amazing track
you've ever driven on.

And doing a lap gives you all
these different conditions

and really tests a car to its limits.

- A car that is good on the
Nurburgring is good everywhere.

- Any brand who wants
to make a perfect car

comes back to Nurburgring.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] No street
legal production car

has ever cracked seven-minute lap time.

(cars zooming)

- We had less than five
real serious attempts

to make this record time.

- We have been working
towards this day very hard.

You know so many things can go wrong.

- [Narrator] After just over 1,000 days,

everything comes down to just 48 hours.

- One lap, you have to
prove everything of the car.

(engine roars)

- [Narrator] On the first day,

the 918 falls short of expectations

and a sub seven-minute lap time.

- The fastest time of our race drivers

was 7:09, 7:07, 7:06.

And then I went in the car, made 7:04.

- [Narrator] On day two,

the team brings in
professional racer Marc Lieb,

a four-time, 24 Hours
of Nurburgring winner.

- I was sure and the next day

if the condition is good, I said to Mark,

"You will go under seven.
It's no problem at all."

(car zooming)

(dramatic music)

(engine roaring)

(car zooming)

(engine roaring)

(car zooms)

- The second lap was six minutes and 57.

- [Spectator] Come on out. (laughing)

- Yeah!

- I said, "Listen, boys, think
to this day in 38 years."

The boys said, "Why?"

I said, "In 38 years you
are as old as I'm today."

- [Narrator] The final lap time,
six minutes and 57 seconds.

The fastest lap ever
for a street legal car

around the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

- This is a number which
nobody could imagine,

let's say, even five years ago.

- The 918 has the rare ability
to be both a daily driver

and a super car.

But now the team has to start
building it for customers,

and to do that, they'll
need a cutting-edge factory.

(cars zooming)

It's taken a team of
engineers and designers

just over 1,000 days to
perfect the 918 super car.

(engine roars)
(tires squeal)

Now they need to figure
out how to build it.

Zuffenhausen, Germany,

has been both the
spiritual and literal home

of the brand since 1950.

(dramatic music)

Inside of these hallowed halls,

Michael Drolshagen is the man
in charge of 918 production.

- 918 Spyder is a handmade product.

We have no automatization
inside the workshop.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] For years, the Porsche way

has targeted assembly methods

that maximize production efficiency.

- We have to figure out
how we can produce a car

without the equipment of mass production,

but to use mass production tools

to improve the highest
standard of quality we can get.

The biggest challenge was to
implement the new technology.

(dramatic music)

It's not only one technology

It's not only a hybrid
technology inside the car.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] The monocoque
is the first piece

of cutting-edge technology
to arrive at the factory.

It's just one of hundreds of
new technologies in the car.

(exciting music)

New tech that requires

an extremely efficient factory layout.

- Keep in mind, we have
only 4,000 meters in square

available for the complete
reproduction and production

of the 918 Spyder.

- [Narrator] It's a
tiny space to handcraft

a cutting-edge car.

So Drolshagen splits the
entire process in half.

(exciting music)

- On the one side, you have the main line.

And on the other hand, the
pre-assembly of all our parts.

- [Narrator] The first
half of the process begins

with pre-assembly and
the heart of the 918,

the 4.6-liter, 608-horsepower,
direct-injected

internal combustion V8 engine.

- We are right now in the engine area

where we produce all our
engines for the 918 Spyder.

We pimped it up for the 918.

It's a 918 color, acid green.

- [Narrator] While the 918 is ultra-modern

and filled with new technology,

the combustion engine assembly line

is absolutely traditional.

- We have seven stations
to build an engine.

Every engine is built by one person.

- [Narrator] It takes the
engine builder 20 hours

to bring a Porsche V8 to life.

The V8 has been modified
to be as light as possible.

- The thickness of the wall here

is around three millimeters, aluminium.

- [Narrator] That's
nearly the width of a line

drawn by a pencil.

The entire power plant
weighs just 140 kilograms.

- It's more than 100 kilogram
lighter than a 911 engine.

(engine roaring)

- Another key area in pre-assembly

is the leather trim department.

(low droning music)

- As you can see here, we
produce our leather pads,

handmade in around eight hours.

- It takes twice as long to
handcraft a 918 interior,

compared to mass-produced Porsches.

Everything from seat pads to sun visors

is hand-stitched with
the greatest of care.

- The sun visor, we stitch 220 stitches

in more than 90 minutes.

- [Narrator] Once
pre-assembly is finished,

the 918 begins to take
form on the main line.

- We built the car around the engine,

then we fit the parts
from inside to outside.

- Working inside out is
one of the unique concepts

behind building the 918.

The first step is connecting the V8 engine

to the rear electric motor
and the dual-clutch gearbox.

(exciting music)

What Porsche calls the PDK transaxle.

(music continues)

The traditional hybrid
powertrain is housed

in the rear half of the monocoque,

which is both light and strong

but isn't structurally sound

until the engine is bolted into it.

- This is like a bridge for the engine

to fit the engine cradle
together with the engine,

the gearbox and the electric drive.

- [Narrator] Three screws
on each side turn the engine

into a structural
component for the vehicle.

Then the whole powertrain
unit joins the front half

of the carbon fiber
monocoque at station two.

The engine comes alive once
both halves of the machine

are put together.

- Yeah, now at the third station

where we start to build up the car

from inside to outside, as you can see,

with the tubes, wiring
harness, air intakes and so on.

- [Narrator] Here the
monocoque can be lifted

and moved to fit intricate
systems, like the wiring harness.

- The monocoque was 140 kilogram,

and it's exactly the same
weight of the engine.

- Minimizing the weight of both
the engine and the monocoque

is one of the keys to
the 918's performance

on a racetrack.
(car zooms)

Another is keeping the
center of gravity low.

(car zooms)

So they put the heaviest part
of the car in the bottom,

the battery.

- This hole, you can see here,

is for the high-voltage battery.

(machinery beeping)

And with the cables, it's connected

to the front electric drive here.

- [Narrator] Once they
finish wiring the battery,

the 918 is ready for the last
of its three power plants,

the front electric engine.

It arrives at the line
already preassembled

to the front suspension.

(dramatic music)

- We have three hearts inside the car,

the V8 engine and two electric drives.

And we have a four-wheel
drive only by cable.

- [Narrator] There is no
traditional drive shaft

connecting the engine to all four wheels.

The four wheel drive
system is run by a cable.

The computer can continually
vary the power split

between the front and rear wheels.

- What you can see here
is the brake system

of the 918 Spyder.

(machinery beeping)

- [Narrator] They very carefully install

the rear brakes by hand.

The 406-millimeter custom
Brembo ceramic rotors

work in concert with the
electric drive system

to recuperate energy.

- The big advantage of the
car is you have not only

the standard braking system available,

you have, in addition, two braking systems

with the two electric drives.

- While the 887-horsepower pushes the 918

to an insane top speed,

(car zooms)

the regenerative braking system
can convert stopping energy

into 230 kilowatts of power.

That's enough power to
run 183 American houses.

- The benefit of a hybrid system

is that you're recapturing
a lot of the energy

that would've gone wasted into braking.

- [Narrator] Slam on the brakes,

and the 918 goes from a
100 kilometers an hour

to a dead stop in 28.6 meters,

roughly 2/5ths the wingspan
of a 747 jumbo jet.

(car zooms)

Once the mechanical pieces are set,

the 918 receives its body work.

Now the machine is ready for,
perhaps, its most famous part,

the badge.

A symbol that combines the historic colors

of southern Germany and a black stallion,

which has been an iconic fixture
in Stuttgart's coat of arms

since the 14th century.

But the 918 isn't quite finished.

It still needs a very
important alignment check

because the rear axles feature
electromechanical actuators

that enable it to do something unique,

steer the car from the very back.

The rear wheels can
turn up to three degrees

in the same direction as the front wheels

for enhanced stability at high speeds.

Finally, after three years
of research and development

and countless hours on the assembly line,

the very first 918 ever built,
serial number 001, is ready,

a car intended for Ferdinand
Porsche's grandson.

- Normally, we do not
talk about the customers,

but 001 is Wolfgang Porsche.

He, of course, ordered number one.

It makes the team extremely proud

that the first car will
go to family member.

- [Narrator] The very
last station on the line

is one of the most unique
in the automotive world

because it's the quietest

and perhaps one of the most expensive.

The 918 has a base price of 636,000 euros.

- I think that most automotive engineers

are hedging their bets and saying,

"Right now, electricity
is probably the best way

for us to go for all of our cars."

- [Narrator] Turn the key and
the latest Porsche super car

simply hums along

with the electric engines
doing all the work.

- You're not buying a 918 Spyder

to go as slow as possible in traffic

and use the least amount of fuel.

(dramatic music)

Everyone who buys this car

is gonna drive it like a total maniac

because that's exactly
what it was intended to do.

(engine roaring)
(tires squealing)

(dramatic music)

(engine roars)

- Put the pedal to the metal,

and all three motors come roaring to life.

- Anytime you get into an
electrically-powered car,

whether it's just a pure electric vehicle

or a hybrid that's electric intense,

it is immediate psychotic acceleration.

(engine roars)

It's unlike any gas engine.

(engine roars)

- [Narrator] After just one wheel rotation

and the 918 is already going
over 25 kilometers an hour.

- The difference between turbo lag

in a normally-aspirated
racing engine is this big.

The difference between a gas engine

and an electric car is that big.

- The cutting edge hybrid powertrain

produces an astounding 887 horsepower.

At its peak output, the
918's three power plants

(car zooms)

produce 1,280 Newton meters of torque.

The 918 catapults from zero
to 100 kilometers per hour

in just 2.2 seconds.
(car zooms)

- The 918 Spyder gets
to 60 faster than that.

(engines roar)

- [Narrator] At 300 kilometers an hour,

the 918 covers 42 meters in half a second,

(car zooms)

half the short side of
the New York City block.

It goes zero to 200 kilometers
an hour in just 7.3 seconds,

(engine roaring)

never slowing down until its maximum speed

of 339 kilometers an hour.

(car zooms)

Yet the most impressive number
could be its fuel economy.

The 918 uses just three
liters per 100 kilometers,

unheard of for a sports car.

(engine roars)

- The interesting twist on this one

is that not only is it the
state-of-the-art in speed,

but it's also the state-of-the-art

in getting good ratings on
fuel economy challenges.

(engines screaming)

- [Narrator] In the end,
if it's then fun to drive,

that is really an opener
of a new technology.

And from that point of
view, I think the 918 Spyder

is an opener for a really a new
decade of super sports cars.

(engine roars)

- [Narrator] First it was a dream.

Then it was a concept car.

Now it's simply the world's fastest

four-wheel drive, hybrid super car.

- It's always a challenge.

It's always something interesting.

Sometimes, it's unexpected.

If you're working for Porsche,

it's never a project that will be boring.

(tires squealing)
(engine roaring)

- It is definitely not certain

that electricity is the future.

It is a future, I think.

But it looks like every probable direction

is heading towards electric.

(upbeat music)

(car zooms)