The Germans also bet on smaller, lighter batteries
by Ciprian Florea, onPorsche introduced its first all-electric car, the Taycan, in 2019, and it’s planning to expand the lineup with a crossover. Later on, it will also launch an electric SUV, as well as an EV version of the 718. Porsche’s recent and aggressive campaign into EV territory suggests that the German automaker is going after Tesla, especially since the Taycan is actually a high-performance model. However, Porsche says that it does not consider Tesla to be a direct competitor.
"Although people like to play us off against each other, we do not consider Tesla to be a direct rival," Porsche R&D boss Michael Steiner told Automotive News. "With the Model 3, it’s clear that they are more aggressively targeting the volume segment," he added.
Steiner has a point. While the base Taycan starts from $103,800 and the Turbo comes in at $150,900, the Tesla Model 3 fetches $39,990 before options, and the Model S costs $79,990 in base trim. Tesla is obviously selling more electric cars that Porsche will do in the immediate future.
But Steiner also argues that Porsche is okay with being behind Tesla in terms of battery efficiency.
"In our opinion, the kind of high battery capacities you might find installed in a Model S are not ideal in terms of sustainability. We believe in smaller, lighter, and, therefore, less expensive batteries that can be recharged more quickly. It’s not our aspiration to be the leader in electric range," he said.
The most efficient Taycan returns up to 201 miles according to the EPA, while the Long Range version of the Tesla Model S returns up to 373 miles. That’s almost double.
So is Porsche just trying to find excuses for not being capable of competing head-on with Tesla? It’s difficult to say at this point. Porsche could be right about small, lighter batteries that can recharge quicker, but we won’t know it until we can test that in a production car. Meanwhile, facts say that the Taycan needs better range against the Model S.
Source: Automotive News
