Good news for fans of Porsches, fast electric cars, and pretty things: the company has announced that the stunning Mission E electric concept will go into production by the end of the decade, aimed at taking the EV performance spot from the Tesla Model S in a big way.
While Porsche has dabbled in the hybrid game, this will be the brand’s first fully-electric car. The company is investing big in the plant that will build it, one that Porsche says will bring 1,000 new jobs in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen.
And more importantly than the performance we know it will have—it’s a Porsche, after all—the company is still sticking to the concept’s claim that an 80 percent battery charge will be achieved in just 15 minutes. Via Porsche:
The four-door car with four individual seats has a system power output of over 440 kW (600 PS). The vehicle will thus achieve both acceleration of 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under 3.5 seconds and a range of more than 500 kilometres.
Charged via an 800-volt charger unit specially developed for the car, which is twice as powerful as today’s quick-charge systems, the lithium-ion batteries integrated within the vehicle floor have enough power again for 80 percent of the range after just 15 minutes. The vehicle can optionally be ‘refuelled’ wirelessly by induction via a coil set into the garage floor.
Forget the speed and 0-60 mph times, it’s the charge time that’s truly incredible—that is, if Porsche can really pull it off. As it is now, a Tesla Model S can replenish half its battery at a Supercharger station in about 20 minutes.
But that’s now, in 2015. The Mission E is due out by the end of the decade, and there’s no telling what Tesla and other automakers are planning by then. The Mission E sounds impressive, but it will have its work cut out for it as the EV game gets even tougher.
I’m just glad it’s happening. I could get used to seeing this thing around.
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