Sticker Price of $845,000 for New Porsche 918 Spyder

The Porsche 918 Spyder is now officially on sale for the staggering retail price of $845,000.
To customers who order the Spyder supercar, Porsche will sweeten the deal with the chance to purchase a 911 Turbo S limited edition model, named the 918 Spyder Edition. The 918 Spyder Edition Turbo S coupe has an MSRP of $161,650 and the convertible has a retail price of $173,050.
Porsche has not yet released estimates of the 918 Spyder’s destination charge or fuel charge.
The Porsche 918 Spyder first debuted as a concept car in 2010 at the Geneva motor show. Recently, the supercar finished the first stage of a three-year development schedule slated to begin production at Porsche’s Zuffenhausen factory in Germany. The first 918 Spyder will come down the assembly line on Sept. 18, 2013. The first model will be available for delivery in November 2013.
The production model of the 918 Spyder jettisons the completely open-top design of the previous concept vehicle in exchange for a targa roof sporting detachable panels that drivers can stow in the luggage compartment in the front of the vehicle. Other modifications visible in official drawings published by Porsche seem fairly small, but because the first production model will not arrive for another two-and-a-half years, additional changes may be made.
In spite of the sky-high retail price, which beats even the MSRP of the Porsche Carrera GT, prospective buyers will need to act quickly. Porsche plans to produce only 918 models of the supercar over a span of two years, and the order log for the plug-in, gas-electric hybrid is filling up more rapidly than expected.
The powertrain in the 918 Spyder is the same as that of the 918 Spyder concept car. The Spyder features a detuned modification of the V-8 engine used in the Porsche RS Spyder racing car with a 4.0-liter displacement and over 500 horsepower when combined with the two electric motors, with one each devoted to the front and rear axles. The two electric motors produce 218 horsepower for a total output of over 700 horsepower for the Spyder as a whole.
The engine powers all four of the Spyder’s wheels with independent control of the propulsive force on the front and rear axles, which means the driver may change from only gasoline, a gas and electric combination, or pure electric power. On electric power alone, Porsche claims the Spyder has a range of over 16 miles.