Porsche swaps Mission E name for Taycan
BY JUSTIN HILLIARD | 11th Jun 2018
PORSCHE has revealed that its long-awaited first battery-electric vehicle, the Mission E large sedan, will enter production next year badged as the Taycan, ahead of an arrival in Australian showroom during the first half of 2020.
The Tesla Model S-rivalling Taycan’s oriental name roughly translates to ‘spirited young horse’ – a direct reference to the leaping steed that has sat at the heart of the Porsche crest since 1952.
Announced over the weekend on the 70th anniversary of the first Porsche sportscar – the 356 ‘No. 1’ Roadster – being registered, the Taycan will remain faithful to the brand’s principles, according to Porsche AG chairman of the executive board Oliver Blume.
“Our new electric sportscar is strong and dependable,” he said. “It’s a vehicle that can consistently cover long distances and that epitomises freedom.”
Porsche AG has also confirmed that it will double its investment in electro-mobility, to more than €6 billion ($A9.31 billion) by 2022.
Of the additional €3 billion ($A4.65 billion), €500 million ($A775.59 million) will be spent on developing additional Taycan variants, while about €1 billion ($A1.55 billion) is set to be used for the electrification and hybridisation of the existing Porsche model line-up.
Speaking to GoAuto at the Cayenne national media launch last week in South Australia, Porsche Cars Australia (PCA) head of public relations Chris Jordan confirmed that the company is already busy preparing for the Taycan’s launch and the challenges its brings.
“We do already have hybrids, which means that us as the national sales company and also our dealers are already across some of the parts of EV, given that we do already have plug-in hybrids with chargers coming in, but there’s more to it when you get to BEV,” he said.
“There’s a team at PCA working with our dealers, working with all sorts of people on getting us ready for that, and we’ve got time to get ready for it, (but) we’re keeping (the details) behind closed doors.
“One topic, it’s several things to look at – working with our dealers to ensure they’re ready, both in terms of infrastructure and training, and then it goes outside of the dealer network. We’re working really hard on that below the surface.”
Critically, Porsche AG will invest about €700 million ($A1.09 billion) in creating new technologies, smart mobility and charging infrastructure, of the which the latter will be pertinent to PCA.
When questioned what the state of PCA’s established recharging network for its E-Hybrid customers was, Mr Jordan explained that it is currently a two-pronged set-up.
“Clearly there’s dealership and then at home – and there’s different options as to what you do there, as well,” he said.
“At every dealer you could charge a plug-in hybrid, so that’s one step, but then there’s all sorts of issues regarding charging – what’s to come over the next few years and what works for each dealership’s electricity supply and infrastructure.
“There’s things that we’re looking at now to ensure that we’re ready and our dealers are ready and then we can expand on that.”
However, Mr Jordan did indicate that E-Hybrid customers already have several third-party recharging options, such as ChargePoint, between their homes and the PCA dealer network.
At Porsche AG’s Zuffenhausen headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, a paint shop, an assembly area and a conveyor bridge are currently under construction exclusively for the Taycan.
Meanwhile, the existing engine plant is being expanded to manufacture battery-electric powertrains, while the body shop is also set for redevelopment.
As a result, production of the Taycan will create about 1200 new jobs at Porsche’s home base alone.
As previously reported, the four-door Taycan will be motivated by two permanently-excited synchronous motors that produce a combined power output of more than 440kW.
Thanks to its instant thrust, the all-wheel-drive Taycan is claimed to sprint from standstill to 100km/h in less than 3.5 seconds while on the way to 200km/h in less than 12.0s.
Under NEDC standards, the four-seat Taycan is projected to have a maximum driving range of more than 500 kilometres, while its 800-volt electrical system can recoup 100km in just four minutes when using fast charging.
Porsche surprised attendees of the Geneva motor show in March this year when it revealed the Mission E Cross Turismo – a high-riding wagon version of the concept that broke cover at the Frankfurt motor show in September 2015. It is expected to join the Taycan in production from 2021.
