Porsche will invest 500 million euros at the Zuffenhausen plant to prepare it for production of the electric 718s which should start next year. This interesting news comes from a report by Automobilwoche. It is worth noting that the Taycan electric and the 911 sports car are already being produced in this factory. The investment will therefore allow the German brand to renovate the site and prepare the production lines for its new electric. . Despite these works, Porsche would not have foreseen the hiring of new employees.
For some time there has been talk of the possibility that the models of the Porsche 718 range, ie the Boxster and the Cayman, can be offered with an electric motor only. At the 2021 Munich Motor Show we had the opportunity to see the Mission R, a concept of an electric racing car. This prototype, however, also anticipated some elements that will be seen on the future electric Porsche 718s.
These battery-powered sports cars will rest on the EPP platform that Porsche has developed together with Audi and which will also be used for the electric Macan that we will see in 2023. According to the report, the project of the electric 718 would be in delay of about a year. The reason? The problem would concern the complexity of the project and the coordination with other brands of the Volkswagen Group.
Indeed, in the past the German brand had talked about the difficulty of developing electric sports cars with typical Porsche characteristics. Difficulties that essentially concerned the weight due to batteries which could have affected the driving experience. The solution seems to have been found precisely with the Mission R which has batteries placed behind the driver but in front of the rear axle, where the internal combustion engine is usually located, to replicate the typical characteristics of mid-engined sports cars.
The report also adds that the batteries will be supplied by Valmet which will open a new plant in Kirchardt, Germany, creating approximately 160 new jobs. Electric Porsche 718s should have an autonomy of about 400 km. A decidedly interesting report that would highlight that the launch of these electric sports cars is not short of time. All that remains is to wait for more information on this project.
Finally, we recall that Porsche has set itself the goal of achieving at least one third of global sales with electric vehicles by 2025 and two thirds by 2030.
