Porsche has just announced that a car very much like the Mission E Cross Turismo Concept will be the company’s second EV endeavour following the release of the Taycan, itself formerly called the Mission E when it first debuted in prototype form at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2015.
It was only at the Geneva Motor Show of 2018 where Porsche showed off a crossover-like interpretation of the Mission E platform, which also sported some design cues lifted from the Macan, Cayenne, and Panamera Sport Turismo wagon. And while it is indeed news that Zuffenhausen will be bringing the ruggedised EV into the realm of reality, it was clear from the start that that would be the case.
With spy shots already indicating that Porsche is concurrently readying an estate version of the Taycan, an incoming Cross Turismo is really of little surprise, essentially being a raised and more off-road friendly version of the purported Taycan Sport Turismo.
Following from the Mission E Cross Turismo Concept’s initial spec, Porsche is planning to arm the car with some 447kW of power delivered via dual axle-mounted electric motors, nearly an identical configuration and output to the Taycan as we have come to expect it.
More than that, however, Porsche should also be touting the car’s state-of-the-art 800 volt electric architecture to enable recharge speeds that are closing in on normal refuelling stints of today’s cars. Supposedly, the system would be able to replenish a depleted battery to 80 percent capacity in less than 15 minutes.
However, while biggest hurdle in that pursuit is still the infrastructure, the company is confident in its future proofing strategy, anticipating that the first series of its own less grid-draining ‘fast’ charging stations will balloon to roughly 300 stations across North America alone by the end of 2019, with even more expected in Europe.
The better news is that the technology is based on open industry standards, allowing other parties to open their own similarly powerful charging stations and therein allow a multitude of incoming EVs to make use of the collectively large charge network.
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