The CEO of Porsche, Oliver Blume, stated in a recent interview with the German paper Automobilwoche that the luxury auto manufacturer was aiming for around 20,000 Mission E electric car sales a year following launch.
Launch won’t be until 2020 of course, and that presumes that everything goes well and there are no delays.
The figure is an interesting one since Porsche currently sells a very limited number of vehicles. (The company only sold 31,350 units of the 911 worldwide in 2015, and that model is a very popular one.)
“We have the Mission E calculated with a number of items in the order for about 20,000,” Oliver noted.
The key point in this, though, is that 2020 is still more than 3 years off — how could the company expect to accurately predict such high sales when the industry is changing so rapidly? Will the model be appealing enough in 2020 to attract much consumer interest? Especially at a Porsche price point? (Additional question from editor: Who is genuinely going to buy a Mission E over a Tesla vehicle with Supercharger access, more space, probably much better autonomous driving features, and a quicker 0–60 mph time?)
The specs certainly aren’t bad — a 0–62 mph time of under 3.5 seconds, 310 miles of range (this is the estimated NEDC-equivalent range, one should remember), 590 horsepower, etc. — but they sound like those of models already being offered. In fact, a 5-seat Tesla Model S can already go 0–60 mph in 2.5 seconds.
Some of those reading this will no doubt note that the Mission E will be designed for racing — so, rather than having the situation that you do with the Tesla Model S and Model X where performance is software limited following heavy use, it will be useful at the track.
That’s probably somewhat true, but the refreshed Tesla Roadster is due in 2019, a full year before the Porsche Mission E, and it’s no doubt being designed with the race track in mind as well.
Editor’s note: Of course, 20,000 sales a year is still far below the 50,000+ a year the Model S is already seeing. So, it’s not like Porsche expects the Mission E to outcompete the Model S. —Zach
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