While Tesla is widely accepted as being the leader in electric vehicles, Porsche says that its push into the world of EVs is not an attempt to challenge Tesla’s dominance.
While recently speaking with Auto News about its electric future, Porsche research and development boss Michael Steiner said the German marque does not consider Tesla a rival.
“Although people like to play us off against each other, we do not consider Tesla to be a direct rival,” he said in response to Tesla trying to beat Porsche’s EV record at the ‘Ring. “With the Model 3, it’s clear that they are more aggressively targeting the volume segment.”
In the past, car manufacturers have admitted that Tesla’s battery technology is well beyond that of most companies but according to Porsche, it has different priorities when it comes to batteries, adding that it doesn’t aspire to be the leader in electric range.
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“Tesla employs round cells, a slightly different chemistry and another cooling concept, all of which have their specific advantages and disadvantages. In our opinion the kind of high battery capacities you might find installed in a Model S are not ideal in terms of sustainability,” Steiner said. “We believe in smaller, lighter and therefore less expensive batteries that can be recharged more quickly.”
This philosophy is particularly apparent with the Porsche Taycan that allows its battery to go from 5-80 per cent in just 22.5 minutes, quicker (only just) than Teslas using the company’s proprietary V3 Superchargers.
One of Porsche next all-electric models will be an electric version of the Macan. While this model will be sold alongside the ICE-powered Macan, Steiner revealed in this interview that the two will look very different, particularly because the brand believes “EVs customers want to be seen as driving electric.”
