Earlier this year, we saw a very different type of Porsche – a rugged, 600-hp, all-wheel drive, all-road adventure wagon capable of kicking up dust under purely electric motor power. Now that concept is becoming a reality. Porsche will build a production Mission E Cross Turismo as the second vehicle in its fast-growing electric car lineup, which is expected to account for half its deliveries by 2025.
When Porsche showed its big-tired, off-road-ready electric wagon at Geneva 2018, we really didn't expect to be covering a production version the very same year. But the big news out of last week's Porsche AG supervisory board meeting is that the Mission E Cross Turismo is a go and will follow the Mission E sedan-derived Taycan as the second all-electric Porsche.
We have to believe the production electric estate will be toned down from the Mission E Cross Turismo concept, which was a step shy of a full-blown rally Cayman. We assume Porsche was playing up the concept's off-road ruggedness to emphasize its crossover-style utility and all-weather readiness, so the oversized tires and fender flares seem very likely to become a thing of concept past when the Cross Turismo moves to production.
Unless Porsche decides to grow the Cross Turismo into a taller, high-riding crossover (it does call it a CUV), though, we expect it will retain much of the concept's high-powered sports estate good looks. If so, the Cross Turismo will join the Panamera Sport Turismo in what will immediately become one of the sexiest estate families the world over.
What we know about powertrain: the production Taycan sedan will have a 600-hp dual-motor powertrain, with front and rear motors teaming to provide all-wheel drive with torque vectoring. A direct derivative of the Taycan, the Mission E Cross Turismo production car should also debut as a 600-hp dual-motor AWD.
We'll have to wait to see what Porsche's production Cross Turismo can do on the street, but the concept arrived with claims of a sub-3.5-second 0-62 mph (100 km/h) and sub-12-second 0-124 mph (200 km/h), the same figures found on the Mission E sedan's spec sheet. Porsche is working to give each car about 310 miles (500 km) of range per charge, relying on an 800-volt fast-charging architecture that it says will provide for 248 miles (400 km) of driving in just 15 minutes of charging, with the first 62 miles (100 km) coming in four minutes.
Porsche will debut the Taycan in late 2019, and the production Cross Turismo will follow as Porsche continues its push into the performance electric market.
Source: Porsche
