Porsche may add another sedan to its growing line-up of battery-electric vehicles, this one slipping in below the German marque’s first BEV, the Taycan.
Porsche has made no secret of the fact that it plans to expand its all-electric offerings. The Taycan wll soon be followed by a battery-powered version of the Macan SUV. According to British publication Autocar, the new sedan would follow soon after that.
The new model could be dubbed the Cajun, according to some sources – though Porsche itself has so far declined to comment on the reports.
Porsche plugs in
Porsche delivered a shock when it announced plans to go electric with the Taycan, but things have changed dramatically since then. All of its key competitors are electrifying, including Ferrari and Lamborghini. The latter Italian manufacturer last month said all of its products will shift to hybrid technology by 2024 and Lambo plans to have at least three, and possibly four, BEVs in its line-up by decade’s end.
In Porsche’s case, its interest in battery technology is driven, at least in part, by parent Volkswagen Group which expects to invest $85 billion in the technology by 2030. And Porsche is teaming up with another high-line VW brand, Audi, to develop an all-new electric architecture, the PPE platform, which will anchor an assortment of new products. Among the first will be the Audi Q6 e-tron debuting next year, along with the new Macan.
In a somewhat confusing move, that electric SUV will be completely different under the skin from the conventional version of the second-generation Macan.
The small sedan Porsche reportedly is developing would also use the Premium Platform Electric architecture – as will the rest of the brand’s line-up, including a second-generation Taycan.
Details are scarce, but Autocar said the smaller sedan would likely offer a base package using a single motors driving the rear axle. An upgrade would add a second motor on the front axle to create a through-the-road all-wheel-drive system.
In January, Porsche unveiled a new base version of the Taycan which, at $81,250, came standard with a single, rear motor. An AWD version was optional. Even then, the rear-drive model was nearly $11,000 more expensive than the entry all-wheel-drive Tesla Model S.
Taking on Tesla
The new Porsche is expected to be about the size of an Audi A4 and it reportedly will adopt a design similar to that of the brand’s current Panamera model. An all-electric version of the A4 also is in the works.
The smaller Porsche battery-sedan is expected to try to come in at or below the Model S.
That is, of course, if the new model gets the nod from the Porsche board which, the magazine said, has yet to give the formal green light. At that point it would take at least a year, possible two or more, to get it into production.
