When you think “all-electric vehicles,” Tesla probably comes to mind. Of course, Tesla wasn’t the only brand to bring forth the EV as society knows it, and they’ll hardly be the last to do so. While Mr. Musk enjoys a well-deserved reputation in this department, there are multiple players in the electric vehicle game — including Porsche’s very own “Mission E.”
Porsche Paving The Road To The Future (With Electricity)
Closely related to the Porsche Panamera luxury 4-door coupe, Porsche’s Mission E is aptly named, illustrating the progressive automotive transition from conventional fossil fuels to 100 percent electric vehicles. Of course, Porsche will never lose sight of their original motoring roots, which are of course founded strongly in petroleum racing. All things considered with the Mission E, what the Porsche brand is attempting to bring forth is an EV that’s deeply intertwined with Porsche’s racing roots.
Below, our Pasadena Porsche professionals take a closer look at the Mission E, the off-road-oriented Mission E Cross Turismo, and what Porsche intends to bring to the market with this cutting-edge model.
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Porsche’s First True EV
Originally unveiled as a concept car at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show (a rather fitting location for the Porsche brand), the Mission E was originally slated as the manufacturer’s first fully electric car. The only exception was that Ferdinand Porsche himself — the founder of this legendary brand — created some very early EVs (more like hybrids) that you can learn more about here.
As the Mission E is shaped like the existing Porsche Panamera, the company plans to price the Mission E accordingly. Built on an entirely new platform under the guise of “J1,” the Mission E is anticipated to go into production sometime in 2019 at Porsche’s Zuffenhausen plant. There is a projected production of some 15,000-20,000 units per year, though these figures may increase given the rising popularity and accessibility of electricity as a means for automotive fuel. Ultimately, time will tell.
Some Technicals
Unlike any Porsche vehicle ever produced, the Mission E is powered by not one, but two electric motors. With one electric motor at the front axle and one at the rear axle, this dual-motor system helps control all four wheels — individually — via Porsche’s Torque Vectoring system. Together, the two electric motors are projected to produce around 590 brake horsepower, ultimately resulting in a 0 to 60 mph time of fewer than 3.5 seconds! That’s pretty speedy for an all-electric vehicle, which, if we’ve learned anything from Tesla’s performance models, means that the torque (acceleration and power-on-demand) is pretty much instantaneous. Sign us up!
On a more environmentally-friendly, economical note, the Mission E is also slated to have a range of over 500 km or roughly 311 miles. Using a “turbo charging” system designed to charge the Mission E’s battery to 80 percent in just 15 minutes, that level of range from an all-electric vehicle is fairly impressive.
But What If I Want To Take My Mission E Offroad?
Porsche has already answered this question thanks to the Mission E Cross Turismo. While the well-known term “gran turismo” is an established part of the motoring lexicon, cross turismo is a bit of a newer concept. Gran turismo, for those uninitiated, simply refers to a high-performance model of an automobile. With a high-performance driving experience in mind, Porsche has sought out to provide “pure electric mobility in the form of an all-electric sports car for an active lifestyle.”
With meaty tires, a significantly higher ground clearance and an all-around attitude that says “I can tackle this terrain with no problem,” the Mission E Cross Turismo is going to be, for many drivers out there, essentially the ultimate vehicle. Think about it: it can off-road (to a limited extent, it’s no raised Jeep or anything), it gets infinity miles per gallon because it’s an all-electric vehicle, it’ll keep the environmentalists happy, there’s plenty of room for passengers and related cargo, it’s really fast…and hey, it doesn’t look too bad, either.
The only problem with the off-road variant of the Mission E is that it’s not coming out soon enough — even the regular Mission E won’t be seeing tarmac until 2019 or 2020 at the earliest.
Implications For The Porsche Brand
Though there’s really nothing that can replace the thrill and satisfaction of physically shifting gears and revving a gas-powered engine, maybe the instant torque of EVs will fill this void in a more environmentally-friendly fashion. Of course, at this point, that’s difficult to determine. Either way, it’s not likely that our Porsche Pasadena mechanics will be working on an all-out EV for some time. Here’s to the future!
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