Porsche Not Joining The Self-Driving Race: Will Focus On Hybrid And Electric

Porsche Chief Executive Officer Dr. Oliver Blume has fantastic news for those who enjoy the feel of driving their own cars: Porsche will not be going down the autonomous vehicle route and will, instead, focus on making its vehicles more environmentally friendly by developing and manufacturing hybrid and electric cars.

In an interview with a German newspaper, Blume claimed that most drivers still want to drive a Porsche by themselves so the company will not be taking that away from its consumers.

"We are resolutely taking on the challenge of electric mobility. Even with solely battery-powered sports cars, Porsche is remaining true to its philosophy and offering our customers the sportiest and technologically most sophisticated model in this market segment," Blume said when the Mission E Concept Car Project was greenlighted in December.

The car manufacturer announced then that it is investing about 1 Billion Euros ($1.1 billion) for its fully-electric vehicle project with 700 million Euros ($764 million) set aside for its main factory and around 1,000 new jobs to be created.

Even with Mission E still in production, Porsche has already been taking home awards from the Kelly Blue Book- the consumer and automotive industry trusted vehicle valuation company- for its vehicles. These awards include the Panamera, which has a hybrid version, and Macan for Best Resale Value. It is also planning to release a hybrid version of the 911 model in a few years' time, perhaps in a bid to follow the track of its racer sibling, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid Racer as well as the 919 Hybrid.

Take a look at some of Porsche's offered hybrid and electric consumer cars below. Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid The Cayenne S E-Hybrid is a powerful Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) with a total output of 416 horsepower (hp) that can go from 0-60 mph in 5.4 seconds. It boasts an 8-speed Tiptronic S which lowers fuel consumption and can switch gears automatically. Likewise, it has a special pressure point in the accelerator pedal which allows the driver to switch between combustion engine and all-electric mode.

Panamera S E-Hybrid
The Panamera series has 13 models under it and one of them is the first plug-in hybrid sports sedan, the Panamera S E-Hybrid. "The Panamera S E-hybrid combines a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 engine with an electric motor and is capable of accelerating from a standstill to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds on its way to a top track speed of 167 mph," Porsche describes.

918 Spyder The 918 Spyder was developed with the special intention of creating a powerful sports car with an equally powerful hybrid system. "The entire car was designed around the hybrid drive. The 918 Spyder therefore demonstrates the potential of the hybrid drive to a degree never seen before: the parallel improvement of both efficiency and performance without one being at the cost of the other," the company explains.

Of course, there's Porsche's ultimate concept electronic car that won't be staying as a concept for long. Mission E Mission E is Porsche's ultimate electric vehicle dream about to come true. Powerful and fully electric, the Mission E is envisioned to accelerate from 0-62 mph in less than 3.5 seconds and 0-124 mph in under 12 seconds.

"Our Concept Study Mission E is still just an idea but it embodies our complete vision of all-electric driving... it provides answers to the question of the sports car of the future," the company explains. One of its ambitious but highly achievable visions is for the Mission E to get charges at 80% in 15 minutes and the option for wireless charging.