In a press release today, Porche announced the increasing role electric drive will play in their future cars. In addition to their current development of hybrid vehicles, Porsche plans to begin testing three all-electric research cars based on the Porsche Boxster in 2011.

However, don’t expect so see any all-electric Porsches in showrooms any time soon. “We will definitely be offering an electric sports car in future. But such a concept only makes sense if it offers product qualities typical of a Porsche” states Michael Macht, President and CEO of Porsche AG.

With the recent release of the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid super car concept, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid (which performed amazingly at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring), the Cayenne S Hybrid and a new Panamera S Hybrid due out in 2011, Porsche is certainly putting its money where its mouth is.

With the planned Audi, Toyota, Mercedes and future Tesla models, the sports car market for green-conscious buyers is sure to get interesting in the next few years.

Volkswagen has released the full details on its GTI Excessive Concept car and it’s one hot little hatch. And, get this, if enough interest is generated for the car, VW is considering selling the parts as an accessory kit to current Mk VI owners!

Here’s the deets:

• 19″ Black BBS wheels with a 35mm offset that widen the cars stance
• 1.2 inch fender flares on all 4 corners (to make room for the wider wheels)
• Larger brakes
• Stiffer springs and dampers
• New exhaust with titanium tips freeing up an additional 4 hp and 5 ft-lbs of torque
• New side skirts, front splitter, rear diffuser, rear spoiler and front air inlets
• LED taillights
• Aluminum and gloss black interior
• New bucket seats finished in black and red

I think it looks pretty darn sexy! What do you think?

Jeremy Clarkson’s recent TopGear post, “Clarkson on: the end of it all”, got me thinking a little. While Clarkson does have some interesting points and opinions, I can’t say that I agree with much of what he wrote. As an über car geek myself, I have thought a lot about how the current need for greener technology will affect supercars as we know them today.

Do I think that we’re going to soon see the end of the supercar? No. Do I think that supercars will be very different than they are now? Yes.

While this can be very scary on one hand, on the other, this is quite exciting. Take, for example, the Tesla Roadster. In just a few short years, the idea of a high-performance, zero-emissions sports car has gone from fiction to reality. I myself have been so enamored by the performance and technology of this ground-breaking automobile, I recently put a deposit in on Tesla’s new all-electric sports sedan, the Model S.

I still have to wait a couple of years before taking delivery of this much-anticipated eCar but, for the price of a BMW 5 Series I’m going to get an amazing-looking, high-performance, zero-emissions, luxury automobile. With 0-60 acceleration approaching that of my Porsche 996, I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of this techno marvel and give my butt dyno a real workout. And, I can do this without the worries of rogue Prius drivers slashing my tires. In fact, while I’m giving myself a facelift with the boatloads of torque, I can scold the Prius drivers for being so wasteful for buying such an inefficient vehicle.

But wait, look what’s on the horizon, the Audi R8 e-Tron and the electric version of Mercedes’ new SLS.

Audi’s e-Tron is set to have 4 electric motors, one at each wheel (that’s right….Quattro baby), that combine for an amazing 313 hp and 3,320 lb-ft of torque. No, that’s not a typo…..3,320 lb-ft of torque!!!!! You could pull a planet with that much torque. Um, I think I’d consider that a supercar.

Then there’s the Merc. With 526 hp, 649 lb-ft of torque and a sub-4 second 0-60 dash, who wouldn’t call this a supercar? Oh, and is has all-wheel drive too.

This doesn’t sound like the end of the supercar. This sounds like the end of the beginning!

With the rapid advancement in battery and electric technology there are sure to be many more exciting cars, both super and production, in the pipeline that are both exciting and green.

One last little thought, as all-electric cars become more common, aftermarket parts manufacturers and tuners are sure to start pushing the boundaries even further with these vehicles. They’re going to get more power, torque, speed, better handling and in short order, make our current supercars look primitive.

The only thing I’ll miss is the sound. But, with over 3,000 lb-ft of torque, I don’t think I’ll mind too much.

Ferrari photo courtesy of: createordie’s

Tesla Model S photo courtesy of: Tesla Motors

Audi E-Tron photo courtesy of: bindermichi

I work at Starbucks and when it’s slow at the store, I start to combine ingredients to make a new drink. During this process, I can’t help but wonder the designers and engineers at car manufacturers do with their spare time? Do they just sketch random stuff? Pull pranks on one another? Race each other?

One day the designers at Volkswagen had one of those moments and they created an awesome GTI for an event that praised the curator of the 1st GTI. For this new project they decided to pull parts from their array of companies that include Porsche, Lamborghini, Bentley, and Audi. They took the W12 Twin-Turbo engine from a Bentley Continental, the rear axle from a Lamborghini Gallardo, and the body of a GTI. Their final product was the Volkswagen GTI W12. Yes, it is a concept car. But, the car itself was actually drivable, so it was a functional concept car like the Citroen GT.

If the W12 ever made it to production then it would need to address two main problems – proper cooling and handling. Proper cooling for the engine would be a factor because the GTI’s design was not made for a RWD, and thus lacks proper air flow into the rear. Handling would be the other problem because the typical GTI body would not be able to control that kind of horsepower during the turns. You will probably whip out the rear and end up spinning if you took a turn harder than you should. In a nutshell the GTI W12 is one brutal force to reckon with on the straights, while in the turns your image of a fast hatchback crumbles.

(Yes, I know, I’m a TopGear fanboy and I admit it, but if you’re not a TopGear fan then you’re not a true car enthusiast!)

Robert Frost once wrote about taking the road less traveled. More sage advice has never been written, and I for one couldn’t agree more. However, I would like to bring up an option not discussed by Frost, and that is to take the road most traveled, but do it in style.

VW’s, Audi’s and BMW’s are nice and quite classy, however nothing catches the attention and encompasses excitement and curiosity quite like a “Project Car”. Project Cars can be practically anything, from the humorous nitrous powered Mini-Van, to a carbon fiber, twin turbo Porsche. Whatever captures the senses and encourages one’s individuality on that concrete river can be considered a Project Car and here at Car Overload we want to celebrate and give praise to anyone and everyone out there willing to take the leap and swim in a conformist ocean wearing a neon colored Speedo (that’s a metaphor, we really don’t want to know about you swimming around wearing a flamboyant neon Speedo).

To kick things off, I wanted to whet your pallet with a drool inducing sensation known as the Citroën GT (otherwise referred to as the GTbyCitroën). This white stallion requires sunglasses in order to be viewed directly without burning your retinas, and sunscreen is encouraged. Aside from its stunning, perhaps adultery inducing looks, the power it produces can also be considered heart pounding at 780 bhp, which translates to between 600-650 HP and has 0 emissions. At this point I must apologize, because I forgot to mention that this beast is not only a rocket on wheels, but also a green, eco-friendly fuel cell powered car. Gas powered cars have a hard enough time achieving over 500 HP, so to achieve this feat with an electric car is even more impressive. To do this, the GT harnesses 4 electric engines powered by a fuel cell, accompanied by aerodynamics trimmed especially for the car of the future.

Project Cars, be them personal or corporate initiated, are all put into motion with a purpose, and the Citroën GT is certainly no exception. Polyphonic, the makers of the PlayStation game Grand Turismo, approached Citroën with the goal of bringing a virtual car into the real world. The design is meant to inspire constant motion, and becomes obvious by the white to gray gradient paint, the extreme angles and the elongated body. Inspiration and design come with a price at the sweet tune of $1.8 million (6 production cars will be unveiled in September 2009).

Car Overload eats this car up with a side of garlic bread and a glass of crisp Dom Perignon. However it’s not the price tag or the luscious looks that has us lusting over this car, but the individuality and passion behind it. Which is why Car Overload is going to start writing weekly about personal and sponsored Project Cars. Welcome to Project Overload.

Do you have a personal project car or know someone who is working so hard they bleed engine oil? We want to hear about it and give them praise best we can! Leave a comment to let me know what projects you’re interested in and we’ll get them featured.