Watch out Tesla: This Porsche goes all-electric
Here's one way for Volkswagen to curb vehicle emissions without cheating: Go electric, and in serious style, to boot.
The German automaker's Porsche brand said Friday it is moving ahead with production plans for its first all-electric vehicle. The Mission E concept car, which made its debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September, is -- let's face it -- simply smokin'. And of course the beauty part, beyond the vehicle's sinuous lines, is that it won't emit any smoke at all.
The Mission E, which is powered by lithium-ion batteries, uses an 800-volt charger that Porsche says is twice as powerful as the current generation of electric-car charging technology. That will allow drivers to get an 80 percent charge after just 15 minutes. The four-door Mission E can also be "filled up" wirelessly by induction using a coil installed in a garage floor. The range, still a drawback for electric cars compared with conventional gas-powered and hybrid autos, is 310 miles.
By comparison, the reigning champ among juicemobiles -- Tesla's Model S -- takes about 20 minutes for a 50 percent charge and has a range of some 260 miles.
As Porsche's sports car of the future, not surprisingly, the Mission E is lightning-fast. Porsche says the 440kW battery will zip you from 0-62 mph in under 3.5 seconds.
"Even with solely battery-powered sports cars, Porsche is remaining true to its philosophy and offering our customers the sportiest and technologically most sophisticated model in this market segment," said Oliver Blue, chairman of Porsche's executive board, in a statement.
Porsche will invest nearly $750 million into expanding its main factory in Stuttgart, Germany, adding more than 1,000 jobs in connection with the project. When will the Mission E be available? Not until the "end of the decade," the automaker says, which hasn't released details on pricing.
For Volkswagen, Porsche's parent company, the Mission E is a chance to focus attention on something beyond the emissions scandal that has dented the German auto giant's sales and stained its reputation after it was caught equipping diesel vehicles with software to cheat pollution controls.
After all, where there's no smoke, there should be no fire.