Porsche stated on Tuesday that it intends to release an all-electric version of its most popular SUV model, the Macan. The company sold close to 90,000 of these vehicles in 2018, beating out the Cayenne SUV and the Panamera sedan. The production is set to start at the beginning of the new decade, and it will be manufactured at the company’s existing plant in Leipzig, Germany.
Moreover, Porsche will launch the Taycan at the end of 2019 – the company’s first purely electrically driven sports car – which will shortly be followed by its derivative, the Taycan Cross Turismo. Both are using the same 800 volt system that will be used for building the Macan, and all Porsche electric cars are being made in Germany.
The company did not give any driving distance for a fully charged Macan, however, they previously said it will have a range of 250 miles after being charged for 20 minutes. Also, it is expected to have a total system output of more than 600 horsepower and accelerate to 62 mph in less than 3.5 seconds.
The shift to electric cars is becoming more popular in the luxury car industry since manufacturers are starting to invest more into new technologies. Porsche said it is investing more than $6.9 billion through 2022 on electric mobility, and by 2025 half of its cars should be all-electric or hybrid. Porsche CEO Oliver Blume stated:
“By 2022 we will be investing more than six billion euros in electric mobility, and by 2025 50% of all new Porsche vehicles could have an electric drive system. Nevertheless, over the next ten years we will focus on a drive mix consisting of even further optimized petrol engines, plug-in hybrid models, and purely electrically operated sports cars. Our aim is to take a pioneering role in technology, and for this reason we will continue to consistently align the company with the mobility of the future.”
The attention is now being focused on electric models due to Tesla, which has set the benchmarks in the high-end auto market. Plus, Jaguar released an all-electric luxury SUV – the I-Pace – last year, while Audi and Mercedes-Benz also have electric SUVs in the works. Moreover, Porsche could prove a real challenge to Tesla once its electric cars hit the market.
