Last week we got some good news from Porsche out of the Geneva Motor Show and now we’re hearing some more. Thanks to this report from Car & Driver in which they spoke with Porsche’s head of EV development, Stefan Weckbach, we now know where Porsche is aiming the future of their electric offerings. This conversation seems to confirm a few things:
- Porsche will not be building a taller battery electric SUV [at least not in the near future],
- Porsche is working on a coupe/convertible version of Mission E, and
- There will most likely be less expensive rear-wheel driven variants of the Porsche EV as well.
While the Mission E Cross Turismo previewed a battery electric crossover scheduled to launch within 12 months, Weckbach confirms that a taller EV SUV will not work on the current Mission E platform, because the so-called J1 Platform will not adapt well with high-floor vehicles. If you’re looking for a tall two-box sport ute with EV power from Porsche, you’ll have to settle for the Cross Turismo for now. Porsche is co-developing another EV platform, this one called Premium Platform Electric (PPE), with Audi, and it may spawn an electric sport ute. While Porsche developed J1 and Audi developed their C-BEV platform independently, the next generation EVs will share a common PPE platform. PPE is said to be flexible enough to spawn low- and high-riding models in multiple size categories. This second-gen Porsche EV will not be ready for consumption until at least 2021, at the earliest, however.
The Near Future
In the near future, however, we can look forward to potential Mission E coupe and cabriolet models, as Weckbach said during an auto show roundtable interview, “If you talk about two-door cars or convertibles, the [Mission E] platform will be ready for that.” The nearly-production-ready J1 platform seems to be modular enough to craft at least a handful of models from. Porsche has been building some exciting SUVs and sedans lately, but we’re excited to see that they are at least looking into a potential new sports car platform. There hasn’t been a truly new Porsche sports car since the 918 Spyder!
Rear-Wheel Driver Mission E?
Furthermore, for enthusiasts of great driving experiences, Porsche is working on developing a rear-wheel drive version of the Mission E platform. The currently shown sedan and Cross Turismo models have both been equipped with motors front and rear to give Mission E a quick-accelerating all-wheel-drive launch, competing directly with Tesla’s dual-motor models. With permanent-magnet style motors, Porsche says the Mission E will have reliable and repeatable stellar acceleration and sustained high-speed running. To make a more dynamically responsive and lighter-weight car, they’ll be removing the front motor for RWD applications (Hopefully a sports coupe and cabriolet, eh?). Of course, this comes at a cost to acceleration times and regenerative braking, because the second motor up front surely adds more power and stronger kinetic energy regeneration. “We try in the Mission E to regenerate as much power as possible, but we need to have the car stable,” said Weckbach.
Porsche has been working on electric and hybrid sports car applications for over a decade, and we hope that the time for a sporty rear-drive EV coupe is at hand. If Porsche wants to keep up with their Tesla target, they need to get cracking and move that sucker to market ASAP!