Porsche recently announced that dealers could begin taking orders for its 918 Spyder. The 918 is anything but the pokey, fuel economic, green car that we all think of when you say hybrid. This is how Porsche does hybrid.

Porsche does hybrid with a 500 horse V8 supplemented with two electric engines that produce 218 horse when they are in use. The electric motors are rated to jump from 0-60 in 3.1 seconds with a top speed in the neighborhood of 199 mph. Top cruising speed for all-electric power could be 94 mph. What the…? This is a hybrid?

EPA fuel standards on on the way, but in European numbers the sports car offers the performance you desire while sipping a few liters per hundred kilometers. That is about 78 mpg for Porsche’s American customers. These numbers assume that you will find a cruising speed and not try to whip all of those ponies at the same time.

This is not a product for the faint of heart or light of wallet. The new 918 will cost an average of $845,000 plus tax and destination. That’s a lot of coin, but, if you own it long enough, you might get your money back in fuel savings!?!?!? Well, you would have to own it a very long time, but anything is possible.