Porsche

Last month, Porsche said that it wouldn’t be quite as profitable in the short-term due to a significant investment of €1 billion and the hiring of 1000 workers to start making all-electric cars, more especially, to make its upcoming Mission E.

The German luxury automaker, which is part of the Volkswagon Group, has yet to announce any details of its battery pack other than what we can see on the picture above, but today we learn that the battery supply contract now comes down to a competition between Panasonic and Bosch.
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As part of a Reuters report that Porsche wouldn’t be quite as profitable in the short-term, it was revealed that the German luxury automaker and part of the Volkswagon g Group will spend a whopping $1B Euros to retrofit its factories to produce Mission E and theoretically other electric cars and variants…
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As Electrek covers, the automobile landscape is clearly changing with electric vehicles replacing gas-powered cars, autonomous features potentially replacing drivers, and iPhone-maker Apple developing an EV of its own. But Porsche wants no part in that future says CEO Oliver Blume. Reuters reports that Blume told German media this week essentially that a Porsche is meant to be driven, and an iPhone is meant for your pocket, not the road:

“One wants to drive a Porsche by oneself,” Blume said in an interview with regional newspaper Westfalen-Blatt published on Monday.

“An iPhone belongs in your pocket, not on the road,” Blume added, saying that Porsche did not need to team up with any big technology companies.

While Blume was using the iPhone line largely to explain away the need for computerized vehicles and embrace the nature of high-performance cars like Porsches, it’s a curious one as the new 911 features Apple’s CarPlay …

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After unveiling the 2017 Porsche 911 Turbo and Turbo S (see picture above) at the Detroit Auto Show this week,  911 program manager Dr Erhard Mossle revealed that the automaker plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid version of its flagship sport car.
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An interesting video of the Porsche Mission E surfaced on Reddit this week. It gives us one of the best look of the interior of the concept and the structure of the electric drivetrain.
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My skin crawls every time the press calls the Porsche Mission E a “Tesla Killer”, which is often. Of course, it could simply be attributed to “clickbaiting” since they rarely if ever base the statement on facts, but the notion is especially ridiculous because if anything, the Mission E actually validates Tesla’s lead.
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Porsche announced today the green light for its first all-electric model, the Mission E concept unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor show earlier this year, for production by the end of the decade. The company will invest over $700 million to expand its assembly capacity and include the production of electric motors.
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In an interview at the Frankfurt Motor Show, BMW’s sales chief Ian Robertson revealed that the company is in the “final stages of consideration” to introduce new all-electric vehicles by expanding its “i” lineup.

Currently BMW only sells the i3 and the i8 under its electric “i” brand, but the German automaker is evaluating a “number of options” to take advantage of the new platform introduced in 2013.
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Ahead of the Frankfurt Motor Show starting this week, Porsche introduced a new all-electric concept: the Mission E. The four-seat sport car is a first for the luxury car brand. The company is aiming for high performance with 440 kW output, 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and over 310 miles of range (500 km).

See gallery of pictures below.
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Miliseconds later, it was toast, but the Tesla P85D did at least get off the line quicker than the insanely fast Porsche 918 Spyder which boasts a 2.3 second 0-60 time and sub-10 second quarter mile. Sure, that’s fast but can it seat 7 and have room for groceries too? No, it cannot.

Electric has that instant torque at 0RPMs which doesn’t seem to have a peer in the internal combustion world. The Spyder with its smaller body has a 600hp ICE and a 300HP electric engine driving its wheels.

The screenshot is above and the video follows of AUTO BILD TV’s race on Porsche’s home field. Feels like we’re seeing the last stand of internal combustion in supercars.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG2-LNbNnYQ] We’re big fans of the looks of the Porsche Panamera S Hybrid (especially the interior) but were saddened to learn that the onboard battery/motor drivetrain was only good for 20 miles via the sub-100HP engine and 9.4-kWh lithium-ion battery.  That’s a lot closer to the Plug-in Prius than anything else Porsche has made.

That’s why it is amusing  to learn that the original car that Ferdinand Porsche built in 1898, which was discovered this week, actually boasts better electric car range than the current Panamera S hybrid. The specs of the Egger-Lohner C.2 electric vehicle show it has 120 amp hour battery good for around 49 miles of range with a top speed of over 20 mph. Not too shabby. That’s also further than a Chevy Volt.