After the Mission E, Porsche to Develop an Electric Supercar Platform for Sharing

by Matt Posky

Published: January 11th, 2018

after the mission e porsche to develop an electric supercar platform for sharing

Porsche is apparently working on a new supercar platform for itself. However, both Audi and Lamborghini are said to be able to get in on the action, too. The platform is an entirely electric one, dubbed SPE, and it’s to be part of Volkswagen Group’s “third-wave” shift towards a fully electrified fleet.

However, the platform’s existence was only officially mentioned in VW’s capital markets presentation from November. The report shows SPE coming into play after the solidification of the initial MEB platform and the establishment of VW’s PPE (Premium Platform Electric) architecture — intended for luxury segment models after 2021. As the third phase of the group’s electrification strategy, SPE-based vehicles likely won’t enter production until 2025.

Beyond the architecture being intended for sporting models, the capital markets presentation doesn’t provide any detailed information. Fortunately, Automotive News was able to get a senior VW Group executive to confirm that Porsche will front SPE development “for two-door sports cars and supercars.”

Last year, VW Group said it intends to produce more than 80 new electrified models by 2025 — including about 50 purely battery-powered vehicles and 30 plug-in hybrids as part of its Roadmap E strategy. The automaker aims to equip each of its group models with a full-electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain before 2030.

That would still place Porsche’s Mission E, which is supposed to be ready next year, on a timeline far too early to take advantage of the new SPE platform. Instead, it will remain on the bespoke “J1” platform, hinting at what’s to come. (Not to spoil the ending, but it will be more electrification.)

As for the sporting EV platform, a VW Group spokesman said it was much too early to provide further details. “We do not want to comment on future projects in detail at the moment,” he said.

We can, of course, speculate to our heart’s content. Lamborghini unveiled mockups for its Terzo Millennio concept EV last year and Audi needs a replacement for the R8 e-tron. While neither of those models are a shoo-in, both brands have shown a clear interest in building battery-powered supercars. In the interim, MEB will underpin the VW brand’s upcoming I.D. brand, along with all EVs for Skoda, Seat, and Audi.

[Image: Porsche]

#Audi #AutomotiveIndustry #Development #ElectricVehicles #EVPlatforms #FutureVehicles #Lamborghini #MEB #Porsche #PPE #VW #Production #VolkswagenAg #Supercars #VolkswagenGroup #ProductPlaning #SPE

Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

More by Matt Posky

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 3 comments

Brandloyalty on Jan 11, 2018

Sub-600 wants you to know: "You can be virtuous in style now."

Like Reply
Arach on Jan 12, 2018

I feel like at this point the mission E should already be out. Its starting to take NSX-like rollouts.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Varezhka I have still yet to see a Malibu on the road that didn't have a rental sticker. So yeah, GM probably lost money on every one they sold but kept it to boost their CAFE numbers.I'm personally happy that I no longer have to dread being "upgraded" to a Maxima or a Malibu anymore. And thankfully Altima is also on its way out.
Tassos Under incompetent, affirmative action hire Mary Barra, GM has been shooting itself in the foot on a daily basis.Whether the Malibu cancellation has been one of these shootings is NOT obvious at all.GM should be run as a PROFITABLE BUSINESS and NOT as an outfit that satisfies everybody and his mother in law's pet preferences.IF the Malibu was UNPROFITABLE, it SHOULD be canceled.More generally, if its SEGMENT is Unprofitable, and HALF the makers cancel their midsize sedans, not only will it lead to the SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST ones, but the survivors will obviously be more profitable if the LOSERS were kept being produced and the SMALL PIE of midsize sedans would yield slim pickings for every participant.SO NO, I APPROVE of the demise of the unprofitable Malibu, and hope Nissan does the same to the Altima, Hyundai with the SOnata, Mazda with the Mazda 6, and as many others as it takes to make the REMAINING players, like the Excellent, sporty Accord and the Bulletproof Reliable, cheap to maintain CAMRY, more profitable and affordable.
GregLocock Car companies can only really sell cars that people who are new car buyers will pay a profitable price for. As it turns out fewer and fewer new car buyers want sedans. Large sedans can be nice to drive, certainly, but the number of new car buyers (the only ones that matter in this discussion) are prepared to sacrifice steering and handling for more obvious things like passenger and cargo space, or even some attempt at off roading. We know US new car buyers don't really care about handling because they fell for FWD in large cars.
Slavuta Why is everybody sweating? Like sedans? - go buy one. Better - 2. Let CRV/RAV rust on the dealer lot. I have 3 sedans on the driveway. My neighbor - 2. Neighbors on each of our other side - 8 SUVs.
Theflyersfan With sedans, especially, I wonder how many of those sales are to rental fleets. With the exception of the Civic and Accord, there are still rows of sedans mixed in with the RAV4s at every airport rental lot. I doubt the breakdown in sales is publicly published, so who knows... GM isn't out of the sedan business - Cadillac exists and I can't believe I'm typing this but they are actually decent - and I think they are making a huge mistake, especially if there's an extended oil price hike (cough...Iran...cough) and people want smaller and hybrids. But if one is only tied to the quarterly shareholder reports and not trends and the big picture, bad decisions like this get made.