At the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, Porsche introduced the Mission E conceptc` and confirmed plans to develop an all-electric luxury sedan that will be worthy of the company's badge in terms of performance. Today, Porsche announced that the upcoming EV based on the Mission E will use technology developed for the Le Mans-winning 919 Hybrid race car.

Specifically, the all-electric sedan will borrow the "800-Volt" powertrain from the prototype racer. Although actual details aren't yet available, Porsche admitted that the 919 served as the trial vehicle for the voltage level of future hybrid drivetrains, adding that it also learned how to keep the battery and electric motor cool under extreme high-voltage conditions.

The Germans didn't say how much of the 919's powertrain will make it into the production sedan, but it's worth noting that the race car uses two energy recovery systems. During braking, a generator at the front-axle converts the car’s kinetic energy into electrical energy. In the split exhaust system, one turbine drives the turbocharger while another converts surplus energy into electrical energy. The braking energy contributes 60 percent, with the remaining 40 percent is produced from exhaust gas.

The recuperated electrical energy is stored temporarily in a lithium-ion battery and feeds an electric motor at the press of a button whenever the driver needs the extra oomph. If adopted, the system will of course work in a different way, but the components are likely to be similar. If anything, Porsche will make certain adjustments to optimize them for road use and in different output configurations.

Details about horsepower, torque, and performance-related figures are still scant, but this is far from surprising given that the production model is scheduled to arrive sometime in 2020.

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Why it matters

Although there aren't many details to run by, the big news here is that Porsche has finally settled on a configuration for its EV. When it presented the Mission E concept, the Germans said that the electric sedan had more than 600 horsepower at its disposal, a figure that's more than doable with the 919's electric motors. After all, Porsche tested the technology for three racing seasons and developed them specifically for outstanding endurance. Based on that, they should be rock solid and deliver exciting performance. The latter is an important factor as Porsche's sedan will have to compete against the Tesla Model S, arguably the most powerful and advanced EV on the market as of 2016.

Porsche 919

Read our full review on the Porsche 919 here.