Porsche Mission E: What we know so far

First revealed over two years ago, the Porsche Misison E is slated to be the brand’s first all-electric performance machine.

But in those two years, it has evolved and more details have come to light, so here’s the story so far.

First unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2015, the Mission E was shocking, or stunning, and questions of whether we were ‘ready for it’ arose.

But today, as Tesla delights its faithful with promises of an all-electric drop-top hypercar, the world seems ready to at least entertain the idea of an electric Porsche.

Originally known by the code name J1, the Mission E is set to go into production from September 2019.

It runs on an all-wheel drive system driven by a twin-motor system. The motors are permanent magnet synchronous, and the system is based on the one developed for the 918 Hybrid.

Currently, a 160kW/300Nm motor drives the massive 21x8.5-inch front wheels, while either a 240kW/340Nm or 320kW/550Nm motor will drive the even bigger 22x10-inch rears, depending on spec.

Porsche claims a 0-100km/h sprint of 3.4 seconds, with a top speed limited to 250km/h.

Singer’s 373kW air-cooled Porsche 964 911 is complete

In addition, a two-speed gearbox allows full-throttle upshifts.

Porsche hasn’t confirmed power output for the 2200kg Mission E, but MOTOR is told that Porsche is currently considering three models.

First is the entry-level Carrera which should produce around 300kW, with a Carrera S good for about 400kW and a ‘Turbo’ topping things off with around 500kW.

In addition, a rear-driven model may surface in the future.

Crucial for an full-electric vehicle is the range – Porsche claims a real-world range of 440km/h and the ability to charge in just 10 minutes with an 800Vcharger.

Though MOTOR has already has a preview drive of a test car, Porsche is already road testing a couple of pre-production cars which have been built from a Panamera base.

The production version will be built on the MSB platform also used by the Cayenne and Continental. It’ll also be bestowed with active anti-roll bars and rear-wheel steering. All for the price of, hopefully, somewhere between a Cayenne and a Panamera.

The version we drove (pictured) has suicide door which will be replaced by conventional b-pillared doors, but the design’s silhouette will remain the same, as well as the interior.

Find MOTOR’s drive feature of the Porsche Mission E, as well as the new GT2 RS, in The Annual edition, on sale November 30.