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BMW Electric Cars: Past, Present And Future
NOV 20 2018
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Porsche Taycan Head Discusses Car’s Virtues: Cooling, Range, Charging
NOV 23 2018 BY STEVEN LOVEDAY 35
Porsche Taycan chief Stefan Weckbach says despite an all-electric powertrain Porsche’s virtues are preserved.
Porsche is unwilling to sacrifice its reputation by bringing an electric car to market that falls short. Apparently, it doesn’t have to. This comes as no surprise to those that know the incredible potential of EVs, but the Taycan may shock many hardcore gearheads.
Additional Porsche Taycan Content:
German publication firmenauto recently interviewed Weckbach about its upcoming, all-electric Taycan. Porsche is not a stranger to hybrids and even plug-in hybrids, but this future entrant will be its first production-level pure-electric vehicle. Being that electric cars as a whole don’t sell very well and make up a small fraction of the overall global vehicle market share, the interviewer is curious about Porche’s choice to bring the Taycan to market. He even wonders if 2020 is too soon.
Weckbach believes that now is the time to move forward with the Taycan. He says it only makes sense since the automaker has progressed to this point, and an all-electric car is next in line. However, he’s also clear to point out that the goal is to bring an EV to market “that will meet our demands without compromise.”
The executive goes on to confirm that the Taycan will arrive at the end of 2019. But, what about an all-electric Macan or Panamera? Weckbach explains that the Taycan won’t be a spacious car, so Porsche has already approved the Mission E Cross Turismo for production as well. It will reach out to those that require more space and versatility. In its electric endeavors, the automaker is branching out and designing new offerings, rather than serving segments that are already satisfied within its current lineup.
firmenauto continues: Is it possible to give the Taycan the classic Porsche virtues?
Weckbach replies: It was clear from the beginning that even an electrically driven Porsche would have to be the sportiest vehicle in its segment. At first glance, it will also be recognizable as a Porsche because we have transferred Porsche’s design DNA to our upcoming electric vehicles. You can be sure that the Taycan will meet the demands of Porsche in every respect, from the selection of materials to the quality of the complete vehicle.
Weckbach says the Taycan looks, feels, and drives like a Porsche. He even goes so far as to say that an electric sports car “can be purist and highly emotional.” Additionally, there are obvious advantages like the low center of gravity and instant torque.
The interview moves on to the Taycan’s stamina, range, and architecture, as well as a discussion about charging infrastructure. In summary, Weckbach shares that range will surely not be an issue, the 800-volt architecture means exceptionally fast charging, and advanced cooling technology means the vehicle will be able to accelerate over and over and maintain high speeds. He also shares that ramping up charging infrastructure by 2020 is a top priority for Porsche.
In the end, the Porsche executive admits that he was impressed with the Taycan’s driving dynamics early on, and since then, the vehicle has improved significantly. He says, it’s not just an electric car … it’s a Porsche.
To read the entire interview, follow the source links below.
Source: firmenauto (translated from German)
Categories: Porsche
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35 Comments on "Porsche Taycan Head Discusses Car’s Virtues: Cooling, Range, Charging"
Steven,
over the next couple of years, ICE sales will plummet and EV sales will be everything.
One of the problems with car and driver, etc, is that they do not do EVs. They treat EVs horribly, but they do give good synopsis on how cars handle, etc. Why? Because they have professional drivers on staff who are also writing.
Have you considered getting a professional driver on-staff to test drive the EVs, and then write lengthy synopsis on them?
Something like that, would put you in a different class of mags.
Yes laggard LICE makers, the time is now (actually its been time for some time now) to introduce compelling EVs before Tesla grabs any more of your market share!
Replace “years” with “decades” and I’m in full agreement.
There are very few market segments that even have an EV option. More are coming but not in volume in the next couple of years.
Step outside of a forum line this one and most people (with the exception of Californians?) don’t even know BEVs exist. I’ve been making people aware but even standing in front of the electric car charging zone at work, many people I have talked to didn’t even know the car next to them was all-electric (despite being plugged in with their huge ugly charge cords)
That’s hardly accurate.
This has largely been my experience. Most people, even those you’d think are fairly educated on cars, really have no clue about electric. Many of those that do know something, most of what they know is inaccurate. I do believe there will be a sea change in the 5 to 10 year time frame. Things will start to snow ball at some point. But not in two years.
Actually, the people that have been most intrigued and curious (and notice the plug) are those you wouldn’t generally expect to know anything about cars.
re. Windbourne comment above. Agreed about replacing years with decades but it should be a few, not a couple. If we are talking all light vehicles (worldwide) which includes pickups and SUVs and the like we will need about 10,000 gWh hours/year of batteries at 100 kWh/vehicle (at current vehicle production levels). Maybe 100 is high but then there is also all the heavier trucks, buses, construction and farming equiptment etc, Tesla,s gigafactory 1 is now up to about 25 mWh/year. So 400 gigafactorys and all the mining and material processing to supply them, and the vast expansion of electricity generation (and storage for solar, wind, etc.)……That is not going to happen in a couple of years. Maybe in 50. More likely, in my estimation, in 50 years we will see a mix of power sources for vehicles and fossil fuels will still be a significant part of it. The efficiency and emissions from heat engine powered vehicles (including hybrids) will continue to improve.
Reality check: During disruptive tech revolutions, new tech replaces old tech in the market in an “S-curve”, with exponential growth in the early stages, and tapering off as the new tech approaches 100% of the market.
Looking at the rate of growth in EV sales worldwide, it seems pretty clear that we’ve finally entered that S-curve. It’s not only likely that the majority of gasmobiles will be replaced by BEVs within 20 years, it’s almost inevitable. As a reminder, New York City went from being almost entirely served by horse-drawn vehicles to almost entirely served by motor vehicles in the space of about 13 years. Seems rather unlikely that it will take all that much longer for the EV revolution to drive the gasmobile into near-extinction. (Diesel trucks may take longer to be replaced by plug-in EVs.)
But that certainly won’t happen within 2 years. That’s flat out impossible, for several reasons. One is that it would take orders of magnitude more battery cell supply than will be available 2 years from now.
Demand for ice will plummet, while demand for EV will jump way up. Lack of battery production simply means that ppl will put off buying a new car for a long time. Just because EVs are not able to meet demand does not mean that consumers will switch to buying ICE. By 2-3 years, it will be apparent that buying an ice will leave you stick with a vehicle that has horrible resale value. Nobody, esp buyers of luxury cars, want.that.
Few, if any of you, saw software switch amongst languages, or OSes. And for those saying this will not happen fast, Tesla has been around longer than America trying to stop building coal plants. Yet ask king coal how fast economic conditions can change.
Very well said Brian. I’m in agreement that the world is moving from ICE to EVs, but this will take decades.
Pretty much everything Brian just said. I keep trying to explain this to people but get labelled ignorant or get told i’m a shill or some ridiculous nonsense like that. People think it’s 2030 but in reality it’s still 2018 and there’s a long way to go for EV’s yet.
That’s before considering the people that straight up do not want an EV and will resist it all the way. I have a few cars at the moment and they’re all ICE, but I know eventually I will replace them all for a single EV, apart from one. I will keep that car and do everything I can to protect it. Everything points towards a future where cars will be generic identical people movers with the single purpose of getting people around. They will be no more exciting than public transport and I can’t imagine living in a world that soulless and unimaginative. I know I’m not the only one that feels that way.
Probst works for MT, but not sure C&D has a pro driver “on staff”? There is a difference between a pro test-driver and an auto reviewer, who may be going on weekend warrior skills. Come to think of it, more than a few “pro” drivers aren’t “writers”, either.
There isn’t enthusiasm that would mike hiring a driver worth it. With MT/Probst helping out on the M3 “track mode”, I’d guess Tesla let go of the dude who showed up at the Roadsters reveal. The auto-press has gotten out of touch, as car owners face awful commutes with zero tolerance and little enthusiasm for what makes them go. As much as I don’t like it, EV owners lean “tech”, in a way driving matters less. We’re at the point where Audi can send around mailings for the new eTron, that say nothing about what a driver would look for, but go on about the “Design-Matrix LEDs” and other style BS. A test driver would represent a rubber-stamp for too many.
But I’d be cool with it.
It takes 4 years to develop a car, so how are EV sales going to be everything in “the next couple of (2) years”?
You have either poorly worded that sentence or poorly thought it out.
Momac, EV demand will dominate in about 2-3 years. I did not say that vehicle sales will be high. In fact, I think legacy car makers are in for a real shock when most ppl will not buy ICE.
Tesla will have out multiple new models, but I believe that rivian will make a huge impact as well. Tesla is chewing up the sedan world esp luxury sedans. MY, Semis, etc will likely make a huge impact. Rivian will likely cause Ford, GM, and Chrysler/Fiat to realize that ice truck/suv sales are in trouble.
Oh man, that Mission E Cross Tourismo concept. Holy moly that thing qualifies as my dream car.
If you build a great car, people will come. If, however, you build a middling car that obviously doesn’t live up to its potential, then it will flop. Unless the Taycan is the fastest Porsche available I think it will just be seen as a capable car, but will be a sales disapppimtment. And as we know, a lot of executives in these old car companies are still not convinced.
Executive interests are opposite consumers, as far as wanting expensive parts. Good parts sometimes mean “you get what you pay for”. To an executive, that means less “EBITDA, ROE, margin” or all the other vocabulary that leads him, or her, to lower pay. So, of course they are not convinced.
IN the midst of all the Self-Proclaimed Bouquets for this car, its Porsche ‘DNA’, and its supposed sportiness – it would be nice if they gave some specific capacities.
You can only withstand only so much Saccharine Sweetness out of these guys, and a tidbit or two of info would be appreciated.
Since the car has been self-proclaimed as something “Only Porsche could do (first)”, it wouldn’t hurt if they could prove it just a bit.
No kidding. Show a video of it charging at 300kW for example.
If its a real “PORSCHE” can he say therefore that ICE is dead? that the future of the 911 is EV?,inquiring minds want to know.
They specifically avoiding naming it as part of the 9xx series to differentiate ICE and BEV versions. A good policy I agree. They do not want to cannibalize their ICE division any more than necessary, but Porsche customers will switch over when ready.
Porsche has said that the 911 will not become an EV, a performance oriented hybrid, plug in probably, yes, EV no.
They went Turbo a year or so ago and I’m pretty sure the next gen/facelift is PHEV confirmed. It’s a little soon to be discussing EV’s I think. Maybe 2026?
Yes. And Porsche said long ago they would never do hybrids or EVs.
Things change.
Maybe it’s “advanced Tesla TROLLING technology”
Nobody mentioned that other company except you. EVs don’t start and end with one single company, and never will.
Marketing blabber. It’s a Porsche doesn’t mean anything at all beyond just that — it’s a product badged as a Porsche!
The 944, not to mention the awful 924, were also Porsches. And not great cars. The 928 perhaps was a great car — but apparently Porsche in that context meant a luxurious grand tourer, not a sportscar.
I’ll admit I consider their current crop to consist of competent vehicles, but even now Porsche isn’t single-mindedly about driving dynamics. And nobody with vision can approve of the Cayenne… A Panamera or a 911 RS have pretty different priorities; certainly both are Porsches…
Porsche is threading a needle. “sportiest in its segment”, or whatever. It would be different if it were the 80’s, but its 2018 and you identified their modern weight-watchers cars. Since they’ve already committed the offense, sacrificing the Taycan’s range, to chase a light sports car would be a mistake. IMO, A big mistake. A lighter low-range car, with 800V DCFC charging at race tracks, could be something genuinely special. But the line for that ~120 mile range EV is probably all of 6 guys deep. At least, before they hit the track.
The 944 was an amazing handling car, 1 of several Porsches I’ve owned over they years. This is an EV for Porsche fans first and foremost. Porsche realizes they have to appeal to their core buyers, just like Audi is doing with the e-tron. I can’t wait to drive a Taycan.
STOP using MISSION E picture when we know TAYCAN is UGLY COMPARE to MISSION E
Did the heavy camouflage (bolted-on pieces of plastic) fool you that much?
“…the 800-volt architecture means exceptionally fast charging…”
Is Porsche still claiming the Taycan can be charged (presumably from 20-80%) in 15 minutes?
I’m still highly skeptical that can be done repeatedly without prematurely aging the battery pack. Let Porsche actually demonstrate doing that, if they can. The limitation isn’t how much voltage the wiring and power electronics can handle; the limitation is how fast the individual battery cells can be charged.
Maybe that’s why it will come late 2019. Maybe they are stalling to wait for advancement in battery. I mean many other EV’s have come out after about 1yr of announcement, but super giant VW takes over 3yrs to get their EV to market after their announcement? Even if it wasn’t as fully ready, the market already shown there is willingness to purchase, so it’s just adding to the feeling that VW isn’t committed to this the way they keep promoting, and just going through the motions and stalling things EV. It’s like my friend who is always waiting to buy a PC, the next one will be better, so I’ll wait. Maybe VW can’t make a solid commitment because next year things will be just that bit better, so they wait.
I imagine if they do release it with those capabilities there would be a BMS system that prevents you doing it too often. In fact I’d be truly amazed if they didn’t.
Funny that the interviewer says that EVs don’t sell well, and wes questioning the timing of release! Idiot. Tesla clearly and unequivocably demonstrated that people are ready, and line up with money in hand, to pay for a high-performance EV. That’s why Porsche is doing it now!! They need to get their name out in the EV space and stake their claim while they can!