Electrification has been one of the auto industry’s biggest buzz words in recent years and, as more automakers continue venturing into the path towards electrification, expect to see a growing number of EV models hit in the market. But, there is one model that isn’t ready to go electric just yet. That model is the Porsche 911 and, if this new report is to be believed, it’s going to be a long time before an electric 911 finds its way into a dealership.

Speaking with August Achleitner, the brains behind the development of the 911 and the Porsche 718, Drive is reporting that contrary to the long-held belief that Stuttgart is pushing to develop a battery-powered 911, there aren’t any plans to dive into those waters, at least not yet. According to Achleitner, the current layout of the 911 isn’t suited for an EV version because the result would be an incredibly heavy car that would impede its power and performance capabilities. That, in turn, would be harmful to the model if Porsche forced the situation.

That said, Porsche isn’t ruling out an all-electric 911 altogether. It could still happen, but sometime farther down the road. Holding off on such an action gives Porsche enough time to layout its plan on how it wants to tackle the situation and, if there’s a model that needs to be planned out thoroughly, it’s the 911. Rushing it just doesn’t make sense.

In the meantime, Porsche is focusing its EV attention on the Mission E sports sedan, which it’s already developing as a model that will launch the company into the world of all-electric vehicles without having to compromise the performance integrity of the rest of its lineup. If the technology developed for the Mission E proves to be successful, it could eventually translate into the rest of the lineup, including the 911 and the 718 sports car.

Just don’t expect it to happen overnight.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

Why it matters

On paper, an all-electric Porsche 911 makes a lot of sense. The industry itself is evolving and EVs are playing a big part in that but, just because that’s the case, it doesn’t mean that Porsche should swim in that direction when it comes to the 911. August Achleitner hit it on the head when he said that the time isn’t right for an all-electric 911, not because the market wouldn’t go crazy over it – it probably would – but because the technologies aren’t in place to make it worth Porsche’s time.

Remember, this is the 911 we’re talking about here. This is Porsche’s most iconic model by a mile and if there’s a model that the German automaker will be very careful with, it’s the 911. It’s hard to blame Porsche for not rushing the development of an EV 911. The car isn’t just ready for it, or at least the current iteration of the car. It would be foolish for Porsche to force the issue when there’s no point in doing it.

The EV revolution will continue even without the 911 in the fold and Porsche is smart in playing the patience card. Achleitner didn’t say it in his conversation with Drive, but it’s also worth pointing out that Porsche is already developing the next-generation 911 with plans to introduce it in the next few years, possibly even as early as 2018. It would make more sense from both a business and timing perspective to hold off on an EV 911 until the next-gen model arrives.

That would give Porsche time and a free canvas to map out how it plans to develop such a model.