PANAMERA HYBRID IN STRONG DEMAND AS PORSCHE PUSHES FORWARDWITH BOLD EV PLAN

Mission E production car is just the beginning

The plug-in hybrid version of the latest Panamera is proving a sales smash. Meanwhile, Porsche is pressing on with development of the production version of the Mission E concept and plans for further pureelectric models, including an SUV. Overall, Porsche reckons this electromobility plan is its most ambitious project ever and will require a major overhaul to its entire structure and production facilities.

Porsche says around 60 per cent of new-generation Panamera deliveries in Europe thus far have been optioned with hybrid drive. The new Panamera plug-in model went on sale in June 2017. Some European territories are buying it almost exclusively over conventional alternatives. Both Belgium and Norway are plumping for the plug-in at a rate of over 90 per cent, Porsche says.

Porsche sells multiple plug-in E-hybrid variants of the Panamera, all offering a pure-electric range of 50km or a little over 30 miles. Indeed, the flagship Panamera is now the Turbo S E-hybrid, a 680hp petrolelectric powerhouse. The success of the plug-in Panamera will no doubt bolster confidence in Porsche's electromobility plans, including a hybrid variant of the next 911, the status of which appeared to be in limbo until recently.

However, the really radical inflection point will come when Porsche launches a production version of the Mission E concept in 2019. The pure-electric car will offer a range of 500km, sprint to 62mph in just 3.5 seconds and support fast charging of 80 per cent of battery capacity in just 15 minutes, Porsche says. The productionised Mission E will also require a rejig of Porsche's Zuffenhausen manufacturing facility.

“It is the most ambitious project we have ever taken on”, says Member of the Executive Board for Production and Logistics, Albrecht Reimold. “Resource-efficient production methods are of the highest priority for Porsche, and are also being factored into the restructuring of our traditional plant in Zuffenhausen for the production of the first purely electric Porsche”, explains Reimold. By 2019, there will be a brand new plant at Zuffenhausen, a factory within the factory. “Our goal is to achieve Co2-neutral production. We are completely on schedule. The Mission E will be on the market by the end of the decade.”

To pull that off, Porsche is investing no less than one billion euros into the Mission E project, around 700 million euros of which will go towards the production facilities at the headquarters in Zuffenhausen. A new paint shop, dedicated assembly area and an 800-metre-long conveyor bridge for transporting the painted bodies and drive units to the final assembly area are being constructed. The existing engine plant is being expanded to manufacture electric drives. Body construction will also be expanded and a total of 1200 new jobs are being created. There will also be additional investments related to this, for example in the Weissach development centre.

Planning beyond the first Mission E model is also underway. “We are already thinking about derivatives of the Mission E”, says Reimold. “We are also planning additional purely electric vehicles and investigating relevant segments. We are working with Audi on a joint electric vehicle architecture for the long-term future.”

Porsche isn't providing any further details at this point, but it's thought the next pure-electric Porsche will be an SUV. The SUV segment as a whole is booming and competing luxury brands including Jaguar and Audi are choosing the SUV as the launch segment for their own first foray into pure-electric cars.