Porsche plans super-EV for high-luxury segment

Porsche’s new electric flagship should be launched in 2027 and will be a seven-seater, off-road-capable luxury crossover. Porsche previously announced that it is working on an electric SUV positioned above the familiar models. Now, the first technical data have surfaced.

According to information from the British magazine Autocar, the SUV will be more than five meters long (the Cayenne measures 4,93 meters) and sit on the Premium Platform Electric (PPE). So it will most likely share the production line with the PPE-mounted electric Macan, which will hit the street in 2024.

The electric Macan is to be built at the plant in Leipzig, parallel to the combustion version. However, Porsche will discontinue the latter in the middle of the decade, saying that would free up space for producing a new electric SUV positioned above the Macan and Cayenne. CEO Oliver Blume has described the car, known under the internal codename K1, as “a very sporting interpretation of an SUV”.

Upgraded PPE

The PPE platform will most likely receive an update for the top model. Developments include a 920-Volt architecture for even faster charging and oil cooling for the electric drives. Moreover, Porsche will probably rely on a cell-to-chassis concept for the battery, allowing for a capacity of more than 100 kWh and a range of over 700 kilometers.

The advanced four-wheel-drive flagship will head a growing Porsche line-up of seven models when it arrives. The K1 will offer the latest in synchronous electric motors, high-performance batteries, and rapid-charging technology. So naturally, this will extend its price beyond the €+200 000 one already has to spend for a top-notch Cayenne or Taycan.

Big, luxurious, off-road EV

Porsche has yet to give any clues to the K1’s design, but its key attributes include a unique silhouette with a short hood by Porsche standards, a steeply raked windscreen, and a curved roof that extends into a liftback-style tailgate.

It is also said to feature considerable ride height in its most extreme driving mode to give the new Porsche suitable off-road capabilities. In addition, the ground clearance will be adjusted via a sophisticated air suspension system with multiple settings.

Other technical features planned for the K1 include electronically controlled four-wheel steering to give added maneuverability at low speeds around town and greater agility at higher speeds. This will work with an electronic differential that provides a torque-vectoring effect on the rear wheels.

When it arrives, it will become the fifth electric-powered Porsche model after the Porsche Taycan, next year’s electric Macan, an electric version of the Porsche Boxster/Porsche Cayman duo due in 2025, and an electric Cayenne planned for launch in 2026.

Me too

Having recently been listed on the stock exchange, Porsche is positioning itself as a leader in electric car technology. “We have a clear strategy to drive electrification forward over the next few years, aiming to deliver over 80% fully electric vehicles by 2030. So it’s a solid upward curve,” said Oliver Blume of Porsche’s sales targets.

Already three years in development and planning, the new Porsche wants to build on the success of the Cayenne and Macan, Porsche’s two best-selling models over the past two decades, last year included.

The K1 is intended to support this trend with a combination of sportiness and utility that, it is hoped, will appeal to customers in its two largest markets: North America and China.

It’s evident that Porsche wants to play in the lucrative garden of high-luxury cars. So, just like BMW, with the iX and iX7, and Mercedes, with the EQS SUV and the GLS in Maybach outfit, it wants to compete with the prestigious offerings of Ferrari, Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, and the like. Even when this means also competing with sister companies like Bentley and Lamborghini. With the latter, it wants to share the image of high-tech sportiness.

SUVs a gogo

While the regular car market seems to give the first signs of a change in car types, SUVs not being the best car form to drive fully electrically (as recently confirmed by Citroën CEO Vincent Cobée), the high-luxury segment seems to have discovered and embraced the SUV. To be hip in the most worldly places, one must arrive in a super-SUV.

The fact that those ‘cars’ easily weigh three tons and need immense battery packs to provide a range exceeding that of a normal EV (noblesse oblige) will normally put them on the future blacklist of authorities (too heavy, too large, too…) where taxation is concerned. But this won’t bother the clients of these luxury road monsters; they will probably even get exemptions.