"Lively Young Horse"
Porsche is gearing up to make the Taycan a serious contender that lives up to its name and the legacy Porsche created for itself since inception. During Q2 of this year after much speculation and trademark digging, Porsche confirmed that Taycan is the official name that means "lively young horse". After reading more into what Porsche has planned for the Taycan, you'll be confident that the meaning of its name won't be tarnished, instead, a pivotal point for Porsche during rapid change in the automotive industry. Some details have been outlined below, but to sum it in few words up as Stefan Weckbach (head of Taycan model range) put it “The Taycan drives like a Porsche, looks like a Porsche, and feels like a Porsche”.
The future of mobility is another step closer: Series production of the first purely electric Porsche is set to begin next year. In preparation, the vehicle has now been given its official name: The “Mission E” concept study, the name currently used to describe Porsche’s complete electric offering, will be known as the Taycan. The name can be roughly translated as “lively young horse”, referencing the imagery at the heart of the Porsche crest, which has featured a leaping steed since 1952. “Our new electric sports car is strong and dependable; it’s a vehicle that can consistently cover long distances and that epitomises freedom”, explains Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG. The oriental name also signifies the launch of the first electric sports car with the soul of a Porsche. Porsche announced the name for its first purely electric series as part of the “70 years of sports cars” ceremony.
Two permanently excited synchronous motors (PSM) with a system output of over 600 hp (440 kW) accelerate the electric sports car to 100 km/h in well under 3.5 seconds and to 200 km/h in under twelve seconds. This performance is in addition to a continuous power level that is unprecedented among electric vehicles: Multiple jump starts are possible in succession without loss of performance, and the vehicle’s maximum range is over 500 km in accordance with the NEDC.
Source: Porsche USA
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Investment
Becoming a strong contender in a segment you can dominate, but arrived late to, requires significant capital and resources especially as it fits into a broader brand portfolio. In Porsche's case this means forking up a €6 billion investment to its Zuffenhausen production facility for now and reportedly over 1,200 workers, initially €3 billion was allocated. Ultimately this investment will help Porsche's vehicle line up become 50% electrified by 2025 and with a state-of-the-art automated production process, all within a restricted production footprint unlike what other car makers have attempted. These aggressive targets will mean launching both hybrid and full-electric models and so far Porsche hasn't confirmed other full-electric models. In time for the Taycan's North American availability will be over 500 EV supercharging stations with a destination charging network similar to Tesla.
Porsche plans to invest more than six billion euro in electromobility by 2022, doubling the expenditure that the company had originally planned. Of the additional three billion euro, some 500 million euro will be used for the development of Taycan variants and derivatives, around one billion euro for electrification and hybridisation of the existing product range, several hundred million for the expansion of production sites, plus around 700 million euro for new technologies, charging infrastructure and smart mobility.
By 2022, Porsche will have invested more than six billion euros in e-mobility, creating the basis for sustainable growth into the future. Interest in hybrid models is already taking off. 63 percent of the Panameras sold in Europe, for example, are hybrid models. Demand for diesel models, on the other hand, is dropping. In 2017, the diesel share of worldwide Porsches was 12 percent. Porsche has not had a diesel in its portfolio since February of this year. Due to this change in conditions, the company has decided to no longer offer diesel propulsion in future.
“Porsche is not demonising diesel. It is, and will remain, an important propulsion technology. We as a sports car manufacturer, however, for whom diesel has always played a secondary role, have come to the conclusion that we would like our future to be diesel-free. Naturally we will continue to look after our existing diesel customers with the professionalism they expect,” says Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche AG.
With the Taycan, Porsche will bring its first purely electric sports car to the market in 2019 – its manufacture is CO2 neutral and it is supplied with green electricity via an ultra-fast charging infrastructure spread over Europe. By 2025, every second new Porsche vehicle could have an electric drive – either hybrid or purely electric. The sports car manufacturer is also concentrating on optimised internal combustion engines. Purist, emotional and powerful sports cars will thus continue to play an important role in the Porsche product portfolio.
Blume stresses: “Our aim is to occupy the technological vanguard – we are intensifying our focus on the core of our brand while consistently aligning our company with the mobility of the future.”
Source: Porsche USA
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Zuffenhausen
Six billion euro's is a lot to be allocated to just to a single production location and the details of what this will be spent on is interesting to say the least. Daily production projections haven't been mentioned as yet but currently Zuffenhausen can do 200 sports cars a day while catering to individual customer needs. This high-tech production facility will grow to create a 1,000 jobs for the Taycan to support the new paint shop, the Taycan's dedicated assembly line, an expanded engine production plant to include electric drive components and a body shop. All of this comes together with "flexi-line production" that utilizes automated transportation systems for increased efficiency within reduced space to lower its carbon footprint. See it for yourself on one of the guided tours Porsche traditionally offers.
At the Porsche headquarters in Zuffenhausen, a new paint shop, dedicated assembly area for the Taycan and a conveyor bridge for transporting the painted bodies and drive units to the final assembly area are currently being constructed. The existing engine plant is being expanded to manufacture electric drives and the body shop will also be developed. Investment is also planned for the Weissach Development Centre. Production of the Taycan is creating around 1,200 new jobs in Zuffenhausen alone.
You can’t get much closer to the assembly of a Porsche. The guided tour through the production facility will give you an entirely new insight into our vehicles. From engine construction to upholstery, right through to final assembly, crowned by the most emotional moment, which we call ‘the marriage’: uniting the drivetrain and the chassis with the body.
Our factory tours boast a long tradition. They are led by Porsche enthusiasts, who have developed their passion and knowledge of the Porsche brand over many years.
A factory tour is offered in German, and is also offered in English with advanced booking. Please note that for operational reasons, the full scope of the factory tour may not be available at certain times. For safety reasons, children under 12 years of age are unfortunately not allowed to participate. We will be happy to arrange child care upon request.
Source: Porsche USA
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Classic Porsche Virtues
The most important aspect of any new Porsche is that it lives up to the brands classic virtues established in professional racing leagues and brought to the public with the 911. It was made very clear by Stefan Weckbach, the man in charge of the Taycan model range, that this will be the sportiest vehicle in its segment. As every Porsche on the market today, "the Taycan drives like a Porsche, looks like a Porsche, and feels like a Porsche", will be suitable for everyday usage, harness the brands classic design DNA, puristic and emotional. Even the under-floor battery builds on this brand identity by giving the Taycan a lower center of gravity than the 911. The only difference as Porsche claims will be its electric drive components.
It was clear from the beginning that an electrically powered Porsche—like every other Porsche model—must be the sportiest vehicle in its segment. Even as an electric car, a Porsche must fulfill the expectations of the market—in its longitudinal and lateral dynamics, for instance. It’ll clearly be a Porsche at first glance, because we’ve transferred the design DNA of Porsche to our future electric vehicles. You can be sure that the Taycan will satisfy Porsche standards in every respect—from the selection of materials and individual components to the quality of the overall vehicle.
The Taycan drives like a Porsche, looks like a Porsche, and feels like a Porsche; it just happens to have a different type of drive. Even an electric sports car can be puristic and highly emotional. We don’t consider that a contradiction. On the contrary, with the optimum drive technology and the right vehicle concept, the Porsche characteristics can be brought even more to the fore. Take the under-floor battery, for example. It gives the Taycan a very low center of gravity, even lower than with the 911. In combination with optimum weight distribution between the axles, this means that the Taycan is a very sporty design, even in its basic concept.
Source: Porsche USA
