Electric Porsche 718 to be produced at Zuffenhausen plant after $567M investment
The historic Zuffenhausen factory in Stuttgart will receive another sizable €500M investment to become production ready for the future electric Porsche 718 derivatives of its entry level sports car.
After the riveting dieselgate scandal which was first revealed in 2015, tainted management at the Volkswagen Group quickly committed to alternative powertrain research and development. This move has placed the large automaker in good stead with the global trend of electrification becoming the imperative for many car manufacturers.
Being a few steps ahead of their competitors, the Volkswagen Group initially invested €700M as early as 2018 to add production of its flagship EV, the Taycan. The four door performance EV has since surpassed annual sales of the ardent 911 with the upward trend expected to continue into the future. Knowing this, the German automaker wants EVs within their range to account for at least one-third of its global sales by 2025 and two-thirds by 2030.
The next step is the production of the 718’s battery-powered replacements, which is set to start next year after complexity delays hindered progress by a year. The model will be based on the compact Mission R race car concept that debuted at the 2021 Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA) in Munich. We are yet to see any teasers of the new electric Porsche 718 but 23 year old designer Loic Le Lay has rendered his own interpretation.
The latest creation will share the Audi co-developed Premium Platform Electric (PPE) and is rumoured to have a 400 km range, 600 km less than what is stated for the second generation Tesla Roadster but still more than enough to have anxiety-free fun with. The Zuffenhausen facility is making another historic leap into the future after the 72 year old factory that saw the first Porsche car collected on 26 May 1950 will produce the brand’s first pure electric Porsche 718 sports car.
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