Porsche
Latest
Porsche invests in EV supercar-maker Rimac
Just recently, luxury automaker Porsche teased its electric Mission E sports car, showing its shadowy silhouette that's not unlike its other non-EV cars. Now, the company has shown that it's getting even more serious about electric vehicles and its Mission E development by teaming up with EV supercar-maker Rimac. Porsche has taken a minority shareholding of ten percent in Rimac Automobili, which you might know as the creator of Concept Two hypercar EV. In addition to manufacturing incredibly fast electric vehicles, Rimac also develops and produces EV components.
Porsche teases its production electric Mission E, aka the Taycan
Porsche has made no secret of its plans to take on Tesla with its Mission E sports car -- now known as the Taycan -- and after a lot of hype about its proposed specs, we're now a step closer to knowing what it's actually going to look like. Kind of.
Porsche is building a speedy EV charging network across the US
Porsche knows that it can't just compete against Tesla by producing fast electric cars -- part of Tesla's advantage stems from a Supercharger network that gives you the confidence to drive long distances. To that end, Porsche's North American chief Klaus Zellmer has revealed to Automotive News that his company is planning to complete a network of 500 fast charging stations in the US by the end of 2019. About 189 of those stations will reside at dealerships, while the rest will sit along highways. You might need only brief pit stops (Porsche's system charges the Mission E to 80 percent capacity in less than 20 minutes) to continue on a cross-country journey.
VW will debut cars with autonomous parking in 2020
Automakers are fond of experimenting with self-parking cars, but VW intends to make it a practical reality. It's promising that vehicles in the company group (which includes brands like Audi, Bentley, Porsche and Lamborghini) will start including autonomous parking as of 2020. The system will only be available in "selected" parking garages at first, but it relies on pictorial guiding markers that are theoretically usable in any garage.
Bentley is the latest luxury car maker committing to EVs
Just a few weeks after Bentley unveiled its first all-electric concept convertible, a lead designer confirmed that the car company known for its gas-guzzling vehicles could start making electric cars fairly soon. Bentley is just the latest in a long line of car makers planning to go electric, of course, with Toyota, Volvo, Porsche, Audi and of course Tesla all in the race to supply our electric car future.
Porsche unveils its insanely fast Tesla Model X rival
Porsche continues to target Tesla. After taking a swipe at the Model S, X and 3 maker last week, the German automaker just surprised us in Geneva with the Mission E Cross Turismo SUV (even though Porsche calls it a CUV, a cross utility vehicle). Watch out Model X.
Porsche starts work on flying passenger drones
You might have to cross another item off of the list of things you never thought Porsche would do. Automobilwoche has claimed that Porsche is developing passenger drones, and is close to showing off its first design sketch. While there's clearly not much to show at this point, you would have some control over the machine but wouldn't need a pilot's license -- like other in-progress drones, a large chunk of the flight control would be automated.
Porsche claims Mission E won't have Tesla's performance limits
Porsche knows you're probably going to compare the Mission E to Tesla's cars, and it's determined to prove that it its electric performance car is the one to beat. Company EV head Stefan Weckbach has promised that the Mission E has "reproducible" performance Tesla (and particularly the Model S) can't match. The Model S can only hit its claimed 0-60MPH time "twice" in short succession, Weckbach claimed, and can't run at at full speed for significant stretches either. The Mission E can maintain its full speed for "long periods," Weckbach said.
Huawei made a Porsche slightly autonomous with a smartphone
With no flagship phone to show off to the assembled mass of journalists, bloggers and tech execs, Huawei took a different tack this year at MWC. If it wasn't slick laptops with pop-up webcams, then it's this: The "RoadReader." To showcase the company's AI push (read: remind everyone it's really into this neural processing gig), the Huawei used its Mate 10 Pro smartphone as a lightweight autonomous car brain, inside a Porsche, right outside FC Barcelona's stadium. I was one of the lucky few to experience what it's like to be driven around by an Android phone.
Android's official augmented reality toolkit is available to the public
Google's take on a mobile augmented reality framework is no longer limited to a modestly-sized preview. It just released ARCore 1.0, letting anyone publish Android apps that take advantage of the toolkit to meld virtual objects with the real world. To no one's surprise, Google has already lined up apps from big-name brands to take advantage of the new platform. Snapchat has an AR "portal" that takes you inside FC Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium, while Porsche lets you explore the Mission E Concept as if it were parked in front of you. A number of games (such as Ghostbusters World and a range of titles from NetEase) and home furnishing apps (Sotheby's, JD.com, Easyhome and Otto) are also on tap.
Porsche and Audi will share an electric car platform
Porsche and Audi are no stranger to sharing car innards (the Cayenne and Macan use the same basic chassis as the Q7 and Q5, for instance), and that's holding true in the electric era. Porsche's Oliver Blume and Audi's Rupert Stadler told Stuttgarter Zeitung in an interview that the two Volkswagen-owned brands will jointly develop a common EV platform that will find its way into several models from 2021 and beyond. Audi is already expecting two sedans and two SUVs, while Porsche could build its first vehicle on the platform at the same factory as the Macan. This doesn't mean you'll see an electric Macan, but that suggests it isn't an electrified coupe.
Porsche's electric Mission E will pack up to 670 horsepower
We've already noted that Porsche is gunning for Tesla with its Mission E sports car, and has even been spotted testing it against the Model X and Model S. Now we know more about what you'll be able to buy when it goes on the market, reportedly in 2019. Automobile reports that it will likely release three all-wheel drive versions with 300 kW, 400 kW and 500 kW (402, 536 and 670 horsepower). It'll have a two-speed transmission and, as we've noted earlier, will hit 0 to 60 mph in around 3.5 seconds with a top speed of 155 mph, and go around 300 miles on a charge.
Porsche is working on a plug-in hybrid version of the 911
Porsche has been flirting with EVs for a bit now and it looks like the the famed 911 coupe might be going partially electric. CEO Oliver Bloom recently told Automotive News that a plug-in hybrid version of the car will go on sale near 2023, roughly four years after the redesigned gas version hits the market. The publication reports that the decision to hybridize the coupe isn't final, but that Bloom is pushing for it regardless. "It will be very important for the 911 to have a plug-in hybrid," he said.
Porsche’s powerful hybrid is a sports car disguised as a station wagon
The Porsche Panamera is rather divisive. People either love or hate the way it looks. Regardless of your thoughts on its design, it's hard to ignore the sports car that doubles as a station wagon. That's especially true thanks to the new $188,400 Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo introduced at the LA Auto Show. Yeah, the name is a mouthful.
Shell will build 80 high-power EV charging stations across Europe
This year, Royal Dutch Shell has put more of a focus on EVs, adding charging stations to a handful of its UK gas stations and acquiring NewMotion -- a Netherlands-based company with 30,000 charging points to its name. Now, as Reuters reports, Shell has committed to building 80 high-power charging stations throughout Europe by 2019.
Major car companies partner for Europe-wide EV charging network
A group of the biggest names in the car industry have announced a joint partnership to develop a Europe-wide high-power charging (HPC) network for electric vehicles. The venture, named IONITY, draws on expertise from BMW, Daimler, Ford, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche, and aims to launch 400 HPC stations by 2020.
After Math: Everything sucks
This post has been removed for failing to meet Engadget's editorial standards. We apologize for any confusion or offense this may have caused.
Porsche's $2,000 Passport subscription swaps cars on demand
Like the idea of Cadillac's car subscription service, but feel its lineup is a little too... proletarian? If you live in Atlanta, you're in luck. Porsche is launching a Passport service in the city that gives you "frequent" vehicle swaps, unlimited mileage and coverage for the essentials (insurance, registration, maintenance and taxes) for as many as 22 different cars through a mobile app. If you want to ferry the kids to school in a Cayenne but cut loose with a Cayman on the weekends, you just have to tap your phone screen. Think of it as Netflix for speed junkies.
Porsche's Mission E pricing might give Tesla buyers pause
Porsche boss Oliver Blume has dropped some details about the Porsche Mission E that should perk up the ears of EV and sports car fans. The all-electric vehicle will look much like the dramatically-styled concept that first appeared in 2015 and get to an 80 percent charge in just 15 minutes. It will also go on sale in 2019 and have a (relatively) reasonable price of an "entry-level Panamera," which is around $80,000-$90,000, he told Car Magazine at the Frankfurt Auto Show.
Porsche takes its racing heritage to Formula E
Porsche is well aware of the performance potential of EVs, having committed in 2015 to the Mission E sports car and, more recently to a high-powered charging network. That now applies to the motorsports side, the company announced that it's forsaking pistons to join the Formula E racing circuit starting in the 2019/20 seaso. "Entering Formula E and achieving success in this category are the logical outcomes of our Mission E road car program," Porsche AG's Michael Steiner said in a statement.
