Porsche will construct its electrical 718 sports activities automotive due mid-decade on the identical manufacturing line because the gas-powered 911, the automaker stated on Thursday.

The manufacturing line is positioned at Porsche’s major plant within the Zuffenhausen space of Stuttgart, Germany, and is the place Porsche additionally builds the present gas-powered 718. Since 2022, Porsche has additionally been constructing the gas-powered 718 at a Volkswagen Group plant in Osnabrück, Germany, as a result of capability limits in Zuffenhausen.

The electrical 718 will not be the primary EV inbuilt Zuffenhausen. Porsche additionally builds the Taycan on the plant.

Porsche additionally stated on Thursday it would construct electrical drive programs for the upcoming electrical Macan on the plant. The electrical Macan is due early subsequent yr and will likely be constructed at Porsche’s plant in Leipzig, Germany.

Porsche Mission R idea

Porsche will make investments round 250 million euros (roughly $271 million) to arrange the Zuffenhausen plant for the electrical 718. Among the many upgrades will likely be an enlargement of the plant and new manufacturing programs that Porsche stated will assist enhance effectivity. A latest effectivity enchancment was the introduction of automated gliders on which in-progress builds are moved across the plant. This eliminates the necessity for a standard manufacturing line and helps makes issues extra versatile, which Porsche stated is advantageous for constructing automobiles with two completely different powertrain sorts on the identical line.

The electrical 718 has been noticed testing in prototype kind and appears to have a design much like the Mission R idea from 2021. The electrical race automotive idea can be thought to preview the expertise of the electrical 718.

As an alternative of the favored skateboard-style EV platform the place a flat battery pack is positioned within the car ground, the Mission R idea makes use of a T-shape battery that sits within the areas normally reserved for a mid-engine automotive’s engine and middle tunnel. Such a format allows designers to maintain the peak of the automotive low whereas additionally delivering weight distribution much like a mid-engine automotive, and that is probably the route Porsche will take with the electrical 718. Maserati plans an analogous technique with an electrical model of its MC20 supercar.

Relying on how the market evolves, Porsche plans to supply the present 718 alongside the brand new electrical 718 for a interval, maybe with updates. The automaker is anticipated to do the identical with the Macan following subsequent yr’s arrival of the electrical model.