Porsche names Mission E

Porsche has revealed the name for the production version of the Mission E electric concept vehicle overnight, during a gala celebration of the company's 70th anniversary in Germany.

The Mission E will enter production at the company's Zuffenhausen plant next year wearing the model name 'Taycan', which means 'lively young horse', referencing the leaping steed that has graced the Porsche crest since 1951, according to the Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, Oliver Blume.

"Our new electric sports car is strong and dependable; it’s a vehicle that can consistently cover long distances and that epitomises freedom," Blume was quoted as saying in a press release.

The Taycan, which develops 440kW from two electric motors, can accelerate to 100km/h in "well under" 3.5 seconds on its way to 200km/h in less than 12 and offers a 500km range (NEDC), will be the basis for multiple derivatives, costing Porsche 500 million Euros.

Porsche says this is part of a six-billion-Euro investment in electromobility by 2022 -- double what it originally planned -- including one billion to electrify its current range, 700 million Euros for technologies including charging infrastucture and several hundred million Euros to expand its Weissach Development Centre and Zuffenhausen plant, which will add 1200 staff for Taycan production.

Earlier this week, motoring.com.au spoke with Chris Jordan, Head of Public Relations for Porsche Cars Australia (PCA), about the large, luxury electric vehicle.

"There's been a lot of great buzz about that car; [but] it is still a concept car," Jordan said at the time, during the local launch of the new, third-generation Porsche Cayenne.

"I can confirm it's going to be sold in Australia, and it's going to be sold in Australia in the first half of 2020."

Jordan advised that in fact, PCA had already been carrying out a lot of preliminary set-up for the coming of the new luxury EV.

"We're fully gung-ho on this," he said. "We're already doing a lot of work in the background to ensure that as a company we're going to be ready for it, our dealers will be ready for it...

"There's a team of people, internally at PCA, that are really putting their heads together about all things Mission E... insert real name here [Taycan]."

Admitting that the 'Mission E' nameplate might actually be hard to displace, Jordan explained that it has really fired the public imagination since the vehicle made its debut at the Frankfurt motor show three years back.

"Mission E has had a life of its own; there's been so much publicity, and it is a signpost for how Porsche's constantly transforming.

"There's going to be a lot of existing Porsche customers who are going to go: 'Great, I'm now going to get this Porsche'."

Jordan would not discuss Tesla or that brand's Model S, the obvious competitor in the market to the Taycan, but he hinted that the local market for EVs is by no means saturated with Tesla products.

Porsche, he says, can rely on the goodwill and brand loyalty of existing customers to purchase the EV, to sit alongside the classic 911 and the family Cayenne in the garage. That suggests there might be a few Panameras being traded in the short term.

"When we look at Mission E, we're looking at it purely from a Porsche perspective. We're confident that the demand is there.

"A huge priority for Porsche Cars Australia, and Porsche globally, is to ensure that there is some exclusivity around the brand and the products. It's usually a good thing when demand outstrips supply...

"They are things we have in mind when we look at every product, including this new one. We'll be very mindful of what we see as the Australian demand for the car – and then how we meet that with supply.

"You'll have people that buy the car for the tech specs, but then you'll have people buy the car because it's a Porsche.

"They'll see a video of the 0-100 [km/h] time, or they'll see a video of Mark Webber driving it – and they fall in love with it.

"That's why the pie's going to expand, because there's going to be more entrants in this segment."

Starting with Jaguar I-PACE and Taycan following hot on its heels...