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Porsche Says Tesla Model S Is Not A Benchmark For Them Ahead Of Release Of Their First All-Electric Car

By Patricia Grannum
Published on: 08:15 PST, Mar 25, 2018

Tesla’s Model S is not a benchmark for Porsche’s upcoming Mission E, their first all-electric vehicle. At least that’s according to a comment made by the company’s CEO, Oliver Blume, during the company’s annual press conference, Forbes reports. But, according to Electrek, the German automaker was observed actively benchmarking a Tesla vehicle a couple of months ago.

Porsche obtained a group of Tesla vehicles which they used to test the Mission E, Electrek reports. This fleet included both Model S and Model X vehicles. There’s a video of the convoy of Tesla cars which Electrek claims was part of the “test mule” program. In the video posted on YouTube, you can see some “spy footage” of a Porsche Mission-E prototype followed by a Tesla Model X.

Blume may have meant that Porsche is not focused on competing or challenging the Model S since there seems to be at least some evidence that the company used Tesla vehicles to test its all-electric offering.

As Electrek notes, Porsche wants to manufacture an electric vehicle that can go from 0 to 60 mph 3.5 seconds. This type of speed is usually reserved for the highest performance version. The Tesla Model S’s performance version can do the same acceleration in 2.5 seconds. The base version, the Model S 75D, goes from 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds.

Pre-production details and photos of Porsche’s Mission E were recently revealed in the auto manufacturer’s Annual & Sustainability report for 2017. As Teslerati reports, some of the photos indicate that certain aspects of the concept design have been changed. For example, it looks like they have nixed the suicide doors. But the Mission E’s pre-production front seems to be staying true to the original design down to the “aerodynamic lines” that dip into the luxury electric car’s headlights. In terms of storage, it seems that the trunk will be spacious and that the frunk will be about the same size as Tesla’s Model 3.

Porsche’s website describes the Mission E as a sports car. They also say that the design of its powertrain will be based on technology that has been tested in motorsports. So, they want us to know that they’re building a fast car. Whether it can compete with Tesla’s vehicles remains to be seen.

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