Topic: Porsche bosses say yes to Mission-E electric car

[Autos_Editor]

Porsche's future is electric
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[Noto]

Porsche says it is investing “around a billion euros” (that’s ‘around’ $1.5 billion in Canuck coin) to create more than 1,000 new jobs to pave this Mission-E’s road from concept to consumable.

Why?

Porsche will never make that $ back.  Why not invest in JUST the powertrain and quick charger, insert it in the body of existing Porsche models at a fraction of the cost of creating a new body style, and have a wider means of selling the thing?

Is there no responsibility to shareholders any more?

[micha]

Porsche says it is investing “around a billion euros” (that’s ‘around’ $1.5 billion in Canuck coin) to create more than 1,000 new jobs to pave this Mission-E’s road from concept to consumable.

Why?

Porsche will never make that $ back.  Why not invest in JUST the powertrain and quick charger, insert it in the body of existing Porsche models at a fraction of the cost of creating a new body style, and have a wider means of selling the thing?

Is there no responsibility to shareholders any more?

I don't think the shareholders are opposed to this. Do you know who owns Porsche AG? Volkswagen AG, which is owned by Porsche Automobil Holding SE, which is owned by the Porsche/Piech family. The Porsche/Piech family has always been actively involved in Porsche. Actually, Wolfgang Porsche is chairman of Porsche AG. They had a say in this.

EDIT: by "own", I mean controlling/majority interest

[Noto]

...but spending $1B Euros to develop an ultra-niche car rather than develop a powertrain that is "the way of the future" (in some respects) in a way that is more 'plebian'?  And the Dodge Brothers sued Ford over smelting its own steel because it meant lower dividends now in favour of higher payouts later

[micha]

It's the Veyron argument.. Many people say the Veyron was a bad decision, but I think it was the right decision. They're building brand value, improving perception of the brand, developing new technologies (which may trickle down eventually).. If you add everything up, it may not be such a bad decision after all. It could still be wasteful, but it's not as black and white as it appears to be at first glance.

[Noto]

It could still be wasteful, but it's not as black and white as it appears to be at first glance.

Correct.  I agree, but it could be less wasteful if the plan from the get-go was to design a scalable powertrain to be used throughout multiple products <--- my point.

[Blueprint]

It could still be wasteful, but it's not as black and white as it appears to be at first glance.

Correct.  I agree, but it could be less wasteful if the plan from the get-go was to design a scalable powertrain to be used throughout multiple products <--- my point.

It is scalable,as Porsche just might offer a special edition, or two, or fourteen, in given time. First should be a high-performance version, Mission R-E.

[EV Dan]

Agree with NoTo here. They should have taken a Panamera and replace all the gas parts with electric. I'm simplifying things of course, but it didn't take Tesla nearly as much money to make the Model S, which by the way at the present moment is faster already.

[bye]

A number of manufacturers have squeezed electric drive trains into existing chassis.  A number of these attempts were reasonable in their approach due to chassis designs that had built in capabilities to allow gas, electric, hybrid and hydrogen based drive trains from the same platform.  Mercedes B-Class and Smart Electric Drive platforms were designed with multiple drive unit options, and room under the cabin floor for low/flat battery placement. 

The problem comes when trying to compete head on with Tesla in the premium performance segment, something Porsche needs to do within the next 5 years, or get used to declining market share.  They've chosen to compete head on.  Good luck.

My wife promised to buy me a Porsche for my 50th birthday, but we changed our minds after driving our little Smart Electric for a few years, it just became more obvious how much better a pure EV is compared to gas.  So she traded aware her Mercedes SUV for a Tesla.  The Tesla is awesome.  My Porsche owning friend is likely to get a Tesla when the Model 3 comes out.  It's lights out for pure-gas powered cars in the premium segment, it's only a matter of time.