Porsche changes its mind on electric vehicles

Porsche Mission E: The design concept is stunning

It wasn’t long ago that Porsche claimed all-electric powertrains didn’t offer enough performance to reach the level that their customers expect from the premium German brand.

As their work on their first all-electric vehicle progresses, they are now changing their view on the technology and CEO Oliver Blume now says that he expects half of Porsche’s production to be electric by 2023.

The Mission E will be Porsche’s first all-electric vehicle and it is planned to enter production in 2019.

Last year, Blume said that they were planning for an annual production of 20,000 units for the new vehicle. It’s a significant volume for the German automaker considering they delivered just over 230,000 vehicles worldwide last year across its entire lineup.

But now they are ready to crank it up with a second all-electric vehicle based on the Macan.

Beautiful at any angle

In a surprising move, The CEO now says that between the two vehicles, Porsche is preparing for a capacity of 60,000 cars per year at its Zuffenhausen plant. Blume made the comment to Germany’s business magazine Manager Magazin last week.

The capacity would quickly make electric vehicles an important part of its overall production and it explains why the CEO now sees them reaching 50% of its total production as soon as 2023, which is much sooner than any established automaker.

It wouldn’t be too surprising for the company to achieve its goal if it can truly deliver on the expectations for the Mission E.

Rear view

The Mission E is to have “over 310 miles of range" (500 km) on a single charge, but being based in Germany, Porsche is likely talking about the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), which is much more forgiving than the EPA rating and doesn’t really reflect real-world range. It’s should still have a more than decent range around 250 miles.

Porsche is also aiming for a 0 to 60 mph acceleration in 3.5 seconds. The automaker also claims that the Mission E will be equipped with a 800-volt charging system able to charge up to 80% in about 15 minutes.

We still don’t have a good idea of the pricing, which will, of course, be an important factor. But if Porsche can deliver on the specs, it could be sitting on a great performance electric car.