NEWSBYTE German carmaker Porsche is investing heavily in the electric vehicle space with Mission E, the first fully electric Porsche, available soon. The Volkswagen-owned marque also sees strong potential for Porsche-branded charging stations and wireless inductive charging in the near future.
The Mission E comes equipped with two motors, all-wheel drive, and around 300 miles of driving range from a lithium-ion battery pack under the passenger compartment.
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The company has also worked on a charging system in house that enables the battery pack to be replenished in what it claims is record time.
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Joe Lawrence, chief operating officer of Porsche’s North American division, predicts that 90 percent of charging will be carried out at home or in the office, where drivers are less concerned about charging times.
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The 70-year old car business is looking at offering wireless inductive charging, which was first used by sister company Audi on the A8. In addition, it is pondering building its own network of charging stations across the US.
“We’re looking at putting convenience stations at interesting properties that might be a good fit for our customers, whether it’s a high-end hotel or a resort. There is potential. They would be built and maintained by Porsche,” Lawrence revealed.
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Porsche’s electric and connected plans are to be welcomed in a year in which more and more leading brands have been developing connected, electric, and/or autonomous technologies.
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Yet while Porsche is an exclusive marque, the concept of either reserving or branding charging stations for its high-value customers seems to be against what the company acknowledges is a growing demand from consumers for both sustainability and connectivity.
Would a Porsche charging station be available to other electric EV owners, and are global sustainability goals furthered by building charging stations solely in exclusive locations? The jury is out on these questions; but the fossil-fuel equivalent would surely be Porsche pumps outside hotels and casinos.
However, Lawrence explained that connectivity is one of Porsche’s biggest strategic focuses. “Connectivity […] is certainly something customers are asking for. I think there’s also some degree of creative engineering going on, solving questions that may not yet even be in the mind of customers. That’s what innovation is all about. That’s something we will continue to push forward,” Lawrence explained in a recent interview.
Either way, the company has made Mission E its most connected car yet, ensuring that it is compatible with an over-the-air system, which will let drivers update the onboard infotainment, or even “unlock more range for a weekend getaway“.