One of the more interesting developments to result from Tesla’s success with the Model S was the realization, among traditional automakers, that the EV revolution could no longer be ignored. Speaking to this, Porsche Cars North America CEO Klaus Zellmer recently conceded that the allure of Tesla vehicles has likely impacted overall Porsche sales.
“We have lots of respect for Tesla,” Zellmer said late last year, “and yes, I’m sure there are some Porsche customers, that in terms of connectivity, digital stuff in the car and electric battery in the vehicles, didn’t find the car that they wanted with Porsche so they bought somewhere else.”
Porsche’s answer to Tesla, of course, is the Mission E. Originally introduced back in 2015, the Mission E is an all-electric luxury car specifically designed to compete with Tesla at the high-end of the EV market. Spec wise, the Mission E certainly brings a lot to the table. Priced at $85,000, Porsche claims that its upcoming EV — which is set to go on sale towards the end of 2019 — will have a 0-60 time under 3.5 seconds, 310 miles of range, and a top speed in excess of 155 MPH.
For as much as Porsche has already invested in the Mission E, now comes word that the company’s overall investment in the EV space is poised to intensify. The famed automaker earlier this week issued a press release detailing its plan to double its investment in EV-related research and development to more than 6 billion euros by 2022, equivalent to about $7.4 billion in US dollars.
“We are doubling our expenditure on electromobility from around three billion euros to more than six billion euros,” Porsche’s Oliver Blume said. “Alongside development of our models with combustion engines, we are setting an important course for the future with this decision.”
Of the additional three billion euros dedicated to EV initiatives, Porsche notes that 500 million euros has already been earmarked for the Mission E and other Mission E variants. One billion euros will be used “for electrification and hybridization of the existing product range” while the remaining hundreds of millions of euros will be used for “the expansion of sites” and investments in “new technologies, charging infrastructure and smart mobility.”
