Nico Rosberg drives a hybrid

Hello and welcome to Fully Charged. I am at Silverstone, the home of motor racing, and I am next to a car which is actually fairly old now. It's five years old, but in 2013 when this car came out, this was Porsche's very first plug-in hybrid, and it even says it on the side. It was also Porsche's most expensive, most advanced car of all time. It cost some £750,000. It is the 918 Spyder, and for me, it's one of the most amazing pieces of technology you've ever seen. It came out at a time when all of the fastest production cars in 2013 were plug-in hybrids. I'm here with Mike Wienkotter. Now Mike, you are the head of Porsche's, you're the PR of Porsche's e-mobility, is that right? That's correct. So the Mission E slash Taycan... Taycan. Taycan, okay, Taycan. That's one part of my field. I'm also responsible for e-mobility, future technologies, and the connected car. Okay, so your job is about to be ramped up massively because obviously Mission E, they've revealed the name of the Taycan, and that is going to be the first all-electric Porsche. Yes, the car will hit the markets end of 2019, so we are in the state now of developing the car. We're very pleased with the results yet. It is still a year to go, and it will be a very, very promising and capable car. We will be the only car manufacturer in the world that will have a car that features the 800 volt technology. We will also have two PSM engines that allows us to have power not just once, but also repeatable power, so you can accelerate the car not just once from zero to 100. You can do it twice, three times, four times, five times. Without overheating issues? Without overheating issues, without losing any time on the clock. You can also go top speed, which will be more than 250 kilometers per hour for a longer time, not just like once and very shortly, but you can actually achieve very high average speeds on the autobahn, for instance. But you cannot just drive very fast, you can also charge very fast. We are speaking of taking on the energy for 100 kilometers in just four minutes. Four minutes? Four minutes for 100 kilometers. Wow. It is very, very fast. It will be a true Porsche even when cornering. Yeah. We are also developing the car on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. We're aiming for a time under eight minutes. Wow. The car will have more than 600 horsepower. Yeah. So it will be a very, very true Porsche. It will be very true to the brand. Well, talking of 600 horsepower, it's around about what the engine in the 918 Spyder has. This is a car that can travel EV only? Yes, the only one. It was the only one. And could this can accelerate quite nicely EV only, can't it? 100 to 0 to 100 in just 6.2 seconds. Okay. Purely EV mode and top speed is almost 150 kilometers per hour and the electric range is up to 25 kilometers. When this car came out, aside from being amazingly complicated and beautiful, it actually sort of was the most subtle of the three cars compared to the Ferrari, the LaFerrari and the McLaren P1, all of which are hybrids. So they were all high classes hypercars. This new name, the battery packs, the lithium ion, I know they're liquid cooled. It's got four different cooling circuits on this car, I remember reading. So the weight distribution was obviously one of the main topics to ensure that the balance of the car is just right to deliver super car performance. And of course, when they came out, they were extremely expensive, most expensive Porsche. And this car replaced the Carrera GT. If people know the Carrera GT, not a very fully charged car, V10 petrol. And although some might say this is not a very fully charged car because there's a big V8 there. Actually, this is the conduit into more and more plug-in Porsches, because after this car came out came the Panamera plug-ins. Yes. Were Porsche thinking of going full EV when they were developing this car? Do you think it was in the pipeline? It was in the pipeline because this car came out in 2013. And in 2014, we decided that we are going to build the Taycan. Really in 2014? Yes. That long ago? Yeah. Right. So the R&D of this car would have definitely been related. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Back then, it was clearly the pinnacle of what we have done so far in terms of hybrid technology and bringing both worlds together. Combustion engine and an electric motor. Yeah. And this used to be the absolute pinnacle of the Porsche brand. Well, Mike, thank you very much for your time. My pleasure. Thanks for bringing this along today. We're going to be talking a lot more on fully charged in the near future with you because, of course, big news that Porsche coming to the market with a full EV that's not only got amazing range, it's also an interesting car to drive. Absolutely. And beautifully made if it's anything like this, which I'm sure it will. So thank you ever so much. My pleasure. See you in the future. Yes, I will see you in the future. That does sound profound. Whether you're an eco fanatic or whether you're just into sports cars, this car will always go down in history as being extremely significant. Porsche's first plug in sports car and unbelievably quick. I could take that car out for a drive now, but I would never be able to drive it to its maximum potential. I've only got two or three laps available on the track. If only there was someone else that could take me flat out immediately. Excuse me. Don't suppose you know any hotshots that could take that car out and just drive it flat out straight away from the get go? No, no. Sorry. I don't know. I don't know anybody. All right. Shame. Cheers. We start in electric mode. How about that? Since we're on fully charged. Yes. Brilliant. Because it makes sense. No. Look at that. Easy only. Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Until 90 kilometers an hour. So you can do proper city driving. No problem. Yeah. Yeah. That's so cool. And you can't do that with the Ferrari and you can't do that with the McLaren either. Yeah. Yeah. Like proper, proper driving. Yeah. And I guess in that same way that most Porsches are, even the real hyper ones, you can still use them every day if you wanted to. Yeah. Let's do a race start actually, because that was damn impressive. I'm not going to stop you from doing that. Are you ready? Now comes the race start. I go in race mode. Race mode. Bang. Race mode on. Do you drive any slower now that you're retired? No. Same. Just check it. Oh man. That's quick. Nico, this is really cool to just, you know. I agree. Come to a fairly lonely day at Silverstone with a 918 Spyder, a car which I've never been in. Got very close to being able to drive it and never did. I wasn't either. So this is a special experience. First time for me as well. Yeah. And as a piece of engineering and as an enthusiast car, it's just mind blowing. Yeah. Yeah. And even for me. Yeah. And I've been, I've seen some fast cars in my time. You've driven some fast vehicles. But it is special. Yeah. Please do a lot of acting. Yeah. Like you're shit scared. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Whoa. But you would be in this corner. I am a little bit scared. Wow. You're pushing. You're pushing. I'm flat out. I'm absolutely going. Yeah, you are. And you've only just got in. Wow. That's so amazing. You obviously, since leaving Formula One and retiring, you've set up a YouTube channel. And this is, is this something that you sort of plan to do immediately post Formula One? Or is this something you just sat there and had a year out and kind of went, what am I going to do? Exactly. So it took some time just to figure everything out where I wanted to go. And I've always loved social media. And I've then seen how YouTube, I think has a really, really powerful future for social media. And so I just decided I'm just going to give it a go. And I really, I enjoy it because it's a challenge in itself to create these videos and try and create something that is, that is halfway as fun to watch. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just fun. So I'm getting, getting going with it. And, and anyways, you know, it's, I mean, it's cars, it's my life. So just to bring a bit of that across. How did the whole interest in, in electric plug-in stuff, not just cars, maybe other stuff. How did you get into that? Again, just, I had no idea when I stopped, where I was going and I looked at the world and I saw that mobility, which is my home, is going to revolutionize our planet and our lives. Yeah. By going electric and by going autonomous, it's going to have such a huge impact. And I've always been fascinated in technology. And so this has just pulled me in its path. Yeah. And therefore I also became a shareholder in Formula E. Yeah. Because again, I just believe, and I'm so convinced about that. You think, well, you obviously, if you've put your own money into it, you must believe in it. Yeah, exactly. And did you go to a lot of races before sort of... Never. I had no idea about anything apart from F1 and family. Really? This is a whole new world opening up. So you just sort of sat back and went, what else is out there? I had no clue. I was so focused. Yeah. I did nothing. I didn't do anything else. I didn't read news. I didn't do anything. Just winning that next race, family, that's it. Is that because it requires all that focus and all that, you need a mind like that in order to be a... For me to perform at my absolute best, that's what it required. Yeah. Total dedication. Yeah. And this 100% focus, because it just gave me that 1% more when I needed it. Yeah. And to beat Lewis, you need even that half percent more. Yeah. Otherwise there's no chance. That there, you come out of that corner to break a slingshot. It is a slingshot. And that braking, you are braking late, my friend. It's like you know what you're doing. Have you like put any sort of eco technology into your house or have you got plans to make your house more efficient or anything like that? No, that I haven't done yet. But I will look at it in the near future. Yeah. I looked at it 10... Well, I don't know. I looked at it five years ago. Yeah. It just wasn't ready yet. Yeah. It was just so expensive. Yeah. But now this is the great thing that all the costs are coming down and it's just a big wave coming where all this starts to make sense for all of us. Yeah. Yeah. And so it's not only mobility, it's energy, it's health care, it's everywhere. Yeah. And that's why it's so cool what you're doing as well. And then you're right in the good moment now where I think fully charged is going to take off. How does the performance compare to a single seater, you know? Acceleration is the same as the F1 car. It's the same? It's the same. Wow. And it's a full body... 2.5 seconds. With look... Maybe even faster. With luxuries and stuff. It can carry people like me. That's amazing. Fleming Eck, Nico Rosberg, you are a naughty, naughty swine. That was... Well, I wanted to experience before I die this being driven 10 tenths. Well, that was it. To me that felt like... Can I just correct you? That was 11 tenths. Was it? Yes. You were trying. That was everything. You were pushing, man. Well, stone to crack. It was good fun. I knew you were going to be quick, obviously, but yeah, that was up there. That was really, really up there. And the other thing is, electric cars are very difficult to describe to people how they feel, how they drive. An engine car obviously has an immediate sound that you can relate to and you can sort of smell it. Electric is different. What was the first electric car that you got a taste of? You might not have driven it, it must have been a Smart or something. Because back in the days when I was with Mercedes, but then the first real impressive experience was Tesla Model S ludicrous mode. Last year, when I was in LA, I went to visit Tesla and they gave me a go in that. And the first thing we did, we just stood still, put the button and then they said floor it. And that is scary. I mean, it's just unbelievable. And that's the cool thing that we all need to understand that electric car doesn't mean less fun. No, it doesn't. It's going to be great fun, just as much fun as these. The only thing that's gone is sound. But I drove the Porsche Mission E recently. I had the honor of being in the prototype. And this was big. I was the first outsider to be allowed in the prototype of the Mission E. And I don't mind there not being sound. It just doesn't matter. Because you've got that torque. It's just a new, different purity. The torque is there. The dynamic is there. And it's just a different form. But I loved it. I really loved it. Whenever I meet someone who's kind of Formula One or X single-seaters, I always try and work out what it's like to drive a full-bodied, full weight, even a fast supercar. Is it still exciting or not? It is, yeah. I think you can all see that in my facial expression when driving. You were going for it. That is really good fun, yeah. I was on the edge there. I think you were on the edge. We were literally on the edge at some point, so I thought we were going to touch some grass. Me too. Did you? There was a few bits. Goodness me. Because you got the chance to drive cars that money can't really buy, with your own cars, what do you buy? I don't buy anything. I have a GLC diesel for the family. Wow. And then, okay, I did go out on a splurge, or what do you say? I don't know. Yeah, you could. And I bought the GT2 RS. Did you? Which doesn't fit at all to this whole electric. No, it's not very electric. But it had to be done. We shouldn't forget the past. There's a space for everything. There's a space for the future, but there's also still that space to... I'm a big classic car fan, for classic cars, and for that crazy V12 or GT2 RS machine, so there's a space for everything. And that's the kind of car you don't use every day anyway. No, no, very rarely. So it's a treat. Very rarely. It's a reward car. The most incredible thing is the battery development at the moment. So the Formula E battery, in the space of four years, the same size doubled in capacity, in battery power, doubled. Because it's already gone from having to change the packs to now being one. So they had to change in half race distance, and now it's same size, they go a whole race distance, in the space of four years. That's how fast this battery progress is. And that is the key to making e-mobility a success. It's down to the batteries and the battery performances. Listen, thank you very much for your time. It's been really a real pleasure. I'll let you get on. Very good. You're a busy man. Thank you very much everybody on Fully Charged for tuning in and for watching. And I hope it was great to see some track action with this amazing car. Are we going to be playing with you again at some point? Let's see. I mean, our paths are very much in line, so it would be great to see what other things we can do. Next time you need to take Robert out in this. I'd love to see Robert's face. No, we take another different car. Something else. Something new. Okay. Many thanks. Thank you very much. Thank you. Once again, thank you for watching Fully Charged. If you're a Patreon supporter, especially, thank you very much for supporting. We could not make these videos without you. If you like this video, click like. There might be a like button somewhere around here. If you haven't subscribed already, what are you thinking? Click subscribe. It might be on the screen now, somewhere around my face. Thank you again.