Porsche will construct its electrical 718 sports activities automobile due mid-decade on the identical manufacturing line because the gas-powered 911, the automaker mentioned on Thursday.
The manufacturing line is positioned at Porsche’s primary plant within the Zuffenhausen space of Stuttgart, Germany, and is the place Porsche additionally builds the present gas-powered 718. Since 2022, Porsche has additionally been constructing the gas-powered 718 at a Volkswagen Group plant in Osnabrück, Germany, resulting from capability limits in Zuffenhausen.
The electrical 718 will not be the primary EV in-built Zuffenhausen. Porsche additionally builds the Taycan on the plant.
Porsche additionally mentioned on Thursday it should construct electrical drive methods for the upcoming electrical Macan on the plant. The electrical Macan is due early subsequent yr and shall be constructed at Porsche’s plant in Leipzig, Germany.
Porsche Mission R idea
Porsche will make investments round 250 million euros (roughly $271 million) to arrange the Zuffenhausen plant for the electrical 718. Among the many upgrades shall be an growth of the plant and new manufacturing methods that Porsche mentioned will assist enhance effectivity. A current effectivity enchancment was the introduction of automated gliders on which in-progress builds are moved across the plant. This eliminates the necessity for a conventional manufacturing line and helps makes issues extra versatile, which Porsche mentioned is advantageous for constructing autos with two completely different powertrain varieties on the identical line.
The electrical 718 has been noticed testing in prototype type and appears to have a design just like the Mission R idea from 2021. The electrical race automobile idea can be thought to preview the know-how of the electrical 718.
As a substitute of the favored skateboard-style EV platform the place a flat battery pack is positioned within the car flooring, the Mission R idea makes use of a T-shape battery that sits within the areas often reserved for a mid-engine automobile’s engine and heart tunnel. Such a format allows designers to maintain the peak of the automobile low whereas additionally delivering weight distribution just like a mid-engine automobile, and that is probably the route Porsche will take with the electrical 718. Maserati plans an analogous technique with an electrical model of its MC20 supercar.
Relying on how the market evolves, Porsche plans to supply the present 718 alongside the brand new electrical 718 for a interval, maybe with updates. The automaker is predicted to do the identical with the Macan following subsequent yr’s arrival of the electrical model.
