Porsche Gets Real and Tests an Tesla-Chasing Electric Boxster
Porsche has finally done the obvious thing and adapted a version of its most likely platform, the Boxster, for electric drive. Its obvious target is the Tesla Roadster, and maybe it can build a better version of that much-heralded road rocket.
There's potentially a lucrative market here, combining the Porsche pedigree and the Tesla's real-world performance. Tesla has sold only 1,200 of its two-seater cars, but Porsche's clout could move many more.
Porsche will be conducting "field tests" on three electric Boxsters, with a view toward eventually producing something like it. It's part of an increasing flirtation with EV technology from one of the world's premiere sports car brands, and it appears headed toward actual production.
"We will definitely be offering an electric sports car in the future," said Michael Macht, president and CEO of Porsche AG. "But such a concept only makes sense if it offers product qualities typical of a Porsche." The field test begins early next year.
Tesla offers a good model for Porsche, then, because the Roadster does indeed sport many of those qualities. A battery-driven Boxster could presumably reach equal heights, and makes much more sense to me than the 718-horsepower 918 Spyder hybrid concept (zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds) that Porsche showed. That car had spectacular performance and, on paper at least, incredible fuel economy. But it would only make those numbers if you drove it around town like it was a Prius. Floor it, and you'd be in Hummer territory.
German manufacturers have generally preferred diesel as a way to save fuel, but they're finding it increasingly difficult to meet Europe's tough emission standards with diesel. That, plus the phenomenal success of the Prius in the U.S. market, explains why VW has suddenly announced hybrid Jetta, Golf and Passat models.
And environmental laws may also explain the hybrid version of the Porsche Cayenne S, also. That one reduces CO2 to 193 grams per kilometer, which are not the greatest numbers but very good for Porsche. And the Cayenne will be followed by a hybrid version of it's executive cruiser, the Panamera S, next year. Another hybrid, the 911 GT3 R, features twin 60-kilowatt electric motors and a 480-horsepower gas engine. That one's strictly for the track, though, and recently had an airing at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.
Porsche says it "has been committed to electric mobility for a long time," and that's very true--much longer than most. The Lohner Porsche of 1899 was a hybrid with four electric wheel motors.
Related:
- The $16,000 Jetta: VW's Entry-Level Assault on Honda and Toyota
- An Executive Porsche: For Fast Company, It's the Panamera
- Porsche Bows to Lower Demand, Trims Production