Porsche building production line for Tesla rival Taycan: Details

The Porsche Taycan will arrive in 2019.Porsche

• Porsche said in a press release on Monday that it is building the production line for its Taycan electric sedan at its assembly plant in Zuffenhausen, Germany.
• The vehicle had previously been known as the Mission E.
• Porsche has said it will have a range of over 300 miles, produce over 600 horsepower, and accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 3.5 seconds.
• The Taycan will compete against Tesla’s Model S sedan.

Porsche said in a press release on Monday that it is building the production line for its Taycan electric sedan at its assembly plant in Zuffenhausen, Germany.

The automaker said the Taycan will mark a shift away from the production methods used for its other vehicles, as the Taycan’s production line will use what Porsche calls “driverless transport systems” the automaker says will make the production process more flexible. Porsche did not provide further details on the driverless transport systems or how they will be used.

Porsche has said the Taycan, previously been known as the Mission E, will have a range of over 300 miles, produce over 600 horsepower, and accelerate from 0-60 mph in under 3.5 seconds. 

The Taycan will compete against Tesla’s Model S sedan. Between its two premium trims, the Model S has a maximum range of 335 miles and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds.

The Taycan is expected to arrive in 2019 and start around $75,000.

In February, Porsche’s head of electric vehicles, Stefan Weckbach, said the Taycan will be able to sustain its performance better than the Model S. The Taycan “will offer reproducible performance and a top speed which can be maintained for long periods,” he said.

Weckbach also hinted at driver-assistance features, like the ability to autonomously park or stop and start in traffic. The vehicle is expected to have other high-tech features, like a digital instrument panel that mirrors the driver’s movements and a dashboard that drivers can control with gestures through a holographic display.

Porsche will invest over $7 billion in electric vehicles and related technology by 2022, the company has said. Over $580 million will be allocated to the production of the Taycan and other vehicles based on it, including a crossover previously known as Mission E Cross Turismo.

By the end of 2019, Porsche plans to install at least 500 fast-chargers across the US that will rival Tesla’s Supercharger network, which consists of over 10,000 chargers worldwide. Porsche has said its 800-volt chargers will be able to give a vehicle an 80% charge in 20 minutes. 

Here’s what we know about the Taycan so far.