Porsche really wants to sell you an electric car. With the announcement and introduction of the Mission E, the manufacturer has set themselves up as a direct competitor to Tesla, ensuring that the brand’s name will be a prominent player in the performance EV sedan market, which is currently dominated by the Tesla Model S. To ensure that it makes waves, Porsche has now announced that it will invest more than six billion euros ($7.4 billion) into its electrification project.
At its latest board meeting, Porsche has decided that its original plan to allocate 3 billion euros ($3.7 billion) towards electrification simply wasn’t enough. Board members voted to double-down on their original plan, citing its continued interest in developing the company’s first consumer-facing electrified vehicle, the Mission E. Though Porsche has been very back-and-forth on its original stance of electrification, the company appears to have come to its senses after finally realizing that companies such as Tesla pose a very real threat to its market share.
“We are doubling our expenditure on electromobility from around three billion euro to more than six billion euro [sic],” said Porche’s Chairman of the Executive Board, Oliver Blume, “Alongside development of our models with combustion engines, we are setting an important course for the future with this decision.”
Per the German automaker’s plan, the high-level overview of fund distribution has already been set in place:
- 3 billion euros ($3.7 billion) will be invested in material assets, whereas the remaining half will be dedicated to the cost of product development.
- 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) will be used to electrify Porsche’s existing lineup
- 700 million euros ($868 million) will go into new technological investments
- 500 million euros ($620 million) will be dedicated towards the development of the Mission E, its variants, and also its derivatives
- “Several hundred” million euros will also be dedicated to expanding the automaker’s existing sites
Porsche noted that it would be expanding its engine plant to begin manufacturing electrified drivetrains, as well as build a brand new paint shop and final assembly area. The effort surrounding the Mission E alone, according to Porsche’s statement, has already created 1,200 new jobs for the luxury performance automaker. Coupled with the large financial backing of the project, it’s fairly clear that electric is here to stay.
On top of its internal redistribution of funds, Porsche has been openly working with a coalition committed to expanding Europe’s charging infrastructure in a joint venture with Audi, BMW, Daimler, and Ford. Named Ionity, Porsche will use this partnership to help provide additional charging points for its new vehicles, allowing for new owners to charge their vehicles on-the-go without worrying if they would find a stall to charge in.
At this point, Porsche is clearly taking the stance of its parent company Volkswagen and putting its bet on Electric. With huge sales goals and a potential market disruption from leader Tesla, the automaker must find a balance between the simplicity of electric cars, and the performance which its customers want. Should Porsche pull off a successful launch of the Mission E and electrify its existing lineup, other performance automakers may very well follow.