Porsche Mission E gets green light

“The supervisory board of the Porsche AG today gave the green light for the Mission E project”, Porsche said in a statement.

Porsche kicked goals at Le Mans with its 919 hybrid racer and it says the same technology has been applied to the Mission E. Along with the production 918 Spyder, the brand is clearly not pitching usage of electricity as a cheaper, lesser alternative to petrol power. Additionally, Porsche is now planning to expand its existing engine plant in order to manufacture electric motors for Mission E project.

While final specs for the production model are still being determined, Porsche indicates its nascent rival for cars like the Tesla Model S will closely follow the Mission E Concept’s formula for a 4-passenger high-performance machine that offers day-to-day practicality. An 800-volt charger unit will charge the lithium-ion batteries located in the floor, batteries that could be recharged to the 80 percent level after 15 minutes.

Image: Mission E by Porsche. It’s also planning a wireless charging system via induction coil beneath an owner’s garage floor, assuming the owner ponies up for the cost of purchasing it and having it installed.

Dr Oliver Blume, chairman of the Porsche Executive Board, said the company is taking battery-powered sports cars seriously, but stressed that Porsche’s philosophy would remain unaltered. “It will be launched at the end of the decade”, the company announced Friday.

Underneath the voluptuous sheetmetal, the four-seater Mission E concept is powered by a pair of electric motors than combined produce a total of 440 kW (600 hp), delivering a 0-100 km/h sprint time of under 3.5 seconds and an operational range of more than 500 km. To ensure that the vision it has laid out for its EV initiative is fulfilled, Porsche will be investing around 700 million euros in its main site.