In Stuttgart this morning, Porsche board members were heard chanting “Down mit Tesla!” from a launch-controlled parade of 911 Turbos. Okay, that didn’t happen, but they’re no doubt thinking of taking it to Elon Musk’s company after they approved the Mission E concept, the stunning all-electric sedan unveiled earlier this year, for production as the company’s first-ever EV.
Deputy chairman and labor leader Uwe Hück actually did come out and say, “A day to celebrate! Yes, we did it!” to applaud Porsche’s ?700-million ($765-million) investment and plans to hire more than 1000 new employees. Everything is expanding. Over the next five years, Porsche will build a separate paint shop and a new assembly plant, enlarge the Weissach testing site, and upgrade its body shop and engine plant (that means hand-built Porsche electric motors). The planned debut is for the “end of the decade.”
While the concept name may not stick, Porsche is indeed on a mission to outdo Tesla, which still builds the industry’s only high-performance pure EV. The Panamera and Cayenne E-Hybrid aren’t enough and the 918 Spyder was too much for too few, but those lessons?along with powertrain advances gleaned from Porsche’s winning 919 Hybrid race car?will give the Mission E momentum out of the gate. That’s assuming the Volkswagen Group’s diesel-emissions scandal doesn’t siphon or delay the project in s...