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Porsche Waters Down EV Ambitions, Says Transition Will Take 'Years' (reuters.com) 122

Luxury carmaker Porsche expects the transition to electric vehicles to take longer than it thought, it said on Monday, having previously said its aim was for 80% of sales to be all-electric by 2030. From a report: It has now watered down that goal by tying it explicitly to customer demand and developments in the electromobility sector, saying in a statement only that it could now deliver on the 80% target if those factors warrant it. "The transition to electric cars is taking longer than we thought five years ago," Porsche said in a statement. "Our product strategy is set up such that we could deliver over 80% of our vehicles as all electric in 2030 - dependent on customer demand and the development of electromobility."
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Porsche Waters Down EV Ambitions, Says Transition Will Take 'Years'

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  • I wonder how much an electric Porsche would cost, way over 100k? All the automakers got all spun up with the EV craze, now they're realizing, hmm our % predictions are way out of line with reality.
    • by Tailhook ( 98486 )

      Hybrids, including plug-in hybrids, are taking a huge chunk of the market. The cost premium over pure ICE is basically gone now, but these things can nearly zero out day-to-day fuel use while also getting long range and rapid fill-ups. Porche, for instance, offers the Panamera and Cayenne hybrids now.

      • Porche, for instance, offers the Panamera and Cayenne hybrids now.

        Sure...if you want a $$$ family truckster....

        When I think Porsche...I think sports car...and for now, I still don't want one that is EV....and even though getting tough to find them, I would still want a manual transmission.

        A fast car is fun....but I think I'd lose a lot of interest in a Porsche that didn't sound like a Porsche.

        I recently rode in a new GTRS4...and WOW...that thing was fun to ride in and listen to.....

        I don't see how an E

        • I was disappointed to read the next gen 718s will be electric.

          https://www.caranddriver.com/n... [caranddriver.com]

          It was on my short list for my next car, but I don't want an EV. Probably will get an M2 instead, though I would have preferred the mid-engine layout.
        • by tdailey ( 728882 )

          What was your comparative experience in a performance-oriented EV?

          Manually working a gear lever and the sound of exhaust might seem like "can't live without it" features. But if you haven't experienced driving with almost no lag between throttle and power, NO power pauses for gear changes, and having access to all the car's torque & horsepower instantly, at any RPM, you might want to try it.

          • A car doesn't have to be a pure electric vehicle to have the advantages that an electric motor can provide, specifically maximum torque at zero RPM. Diesel electric locomotives have been using electric motors for propulsion and diesel for power for over 100 years, and doing so precisely because that means getting maximum torque even at minimal speed. I don't know how well that translates to high performance cars but it does show how someone could avoid the weight/mass penalty of batteries and get the torq

            • No, what you are calling "diesel electric" is what carmakers call "series hybrid." It's not something that will work for cars. The closest you will get is the Honda system. If you have a high-torque electric motor, you need a pretty big diesel generator to power it. That's going to be heavy as a percentage of total weight and needs to produce quite a bit of power in order to ensure that there is sufficient electricity for the motor. That creates an immediate and obvious means of improvement by being ab
              • No, what you are calling "diesel electric" is what carmakers call "series hybrid." It's not something that will work for cars.

                You are giving the same bullshit reply that I complained about in the grandparent post.

                While I did describe a diesel electric car I also went on to say that a PHEV can come in many forms, and while some forms of a PHEV might be far from optimal for a specific application there's many variations on a theme that can be picked from where at least one variation is an improvement over both BEV and ICEV. The term "diesel-electric" is distinct from "series hybrid" since diesel-electric implies that there's no mea

                • Diesel electrics, such as trains, are really just Diesel vehicles where the generator/electric motor replace a transmission. This is mechanically much simpler than a transmission and was at least as efficient as the transmissions available at the time that Diesel electric locomotives became popular. However, it's not nearly as fuel efficient as a modern transmission. That's why even gasoline-electrics like the Chevrolet Volt had lock-up clutches to allow the gasoline engine to directly drive the wheels a
                  • If you wanted a Diesel that could match an electric car, you'd need a much *larger* engine which would be even less efficient.

                    You are just repeating the assertion you made earlier without any explanation as to why or how.

                    Hence why a hybrid works so well.

                    Okay, now it looks like you are getting that a diesel-electric is distinct from a hybrid. To me it takes more than just an electric power train to be a hybrid, it must also have a means to take on external electric energy. If there's no external source of electricity to the vehicle then it is not a "hybrid" in my mind. While a hybrid (one that doesn't plug-in) appears to have fuel economy advantages over a vehi

                    • I'm not arguing for any specific variation on the PHEV theme. I'm pointing out that electric drive and diesel engines have been paired up for a long time in many vehicles because of how well that pairing has performed over alternatives, and with the addition of a battery to make a diesel-electric into a hybrid with more advantages the PHEV is likely to replace the conventional ICEV as the default choice for car buyers. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic here but it seems you are at least in partial agreement.

                      To the extend that you are arguing that HEV/PHEV is the near-term future, yes, we are in total agreement. The market is going to transition to HEV then to PHEV and then (maybe) to BEV in the future. My wife owns the RAV4 Hybrid and we love the vehicle.

                      I am not trying to nit pick your argument as you are generally on the right track.

                      Maybe I misunderstood your original point. Or maybe it was harder to understand the point because of the distraction when you mention diesel electric and trains.

                      The d

        • I agree. I think this is the major problem with the roll-out & I think it may apply to a lot of car makes that target petrol heads, i.e. they want the smell, the dirt, the noise. EVs are just too clean & quiet even though they easily outperform ICE cars. It may take a generation for that idiocy to go away.
        • by shilly ( 142940 )

          You might be interested to watch a review of the Taycan GT Turbo with Weissach package. It gives you a sense of how far Porsche have got with EVs ("it feels like a Porsche"), and how far they've still got to go (2.2 tons even with carbon fibre everywhere and no rear seats!). I doubt you'll change your mind after seeing the review, but you may see the gap as smaller than you previously thought.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

      • Re:No shit (Score:5, Interesting)

        by larwe ( 858929 ) on Monday July 22, 2024 @12:53PM (#64646510)
        That's exactly it. It's easy to sell a hybrid - "You just drive it until it asks for gas, then you put gas in it". It's much harder to sell a pure EV. "Well, you probably need a charger at home, then you need an app to find places you can charge it if you're going on a long drive and if you run out of juice at the side of the road, you're going to need to get towed to a charger". Pure EVs are still activist/enthusiast vehicles.
        • Pure EVs are still activist/enthusiast vehicles.

          Or if you just need a reliable commuter/grocery getter and prefer air travel for longer trips.

          • by larwe ( 858929 )
            I understand that people can say this, but you don't understand what life is like in, say, the Midwest. I seriously considered buying a cheap Nissan Leaf because a) cheap car! b) Many of my drives are only 20 miles roundtrip! - and then I looked at the realities. For me, many of my drives are 10 miles each way with little detour. But then there is the detour. There's the "ofuk I can't get my kid to daycare because battery". There's the "I can't combine two trips because battery risk".
            • by dgatwood ( 11270 )

              I understand that people can say this, but you don't understand what life is like in, say, the Midwest. I seriously considered buying a cheap Nissan Leaf because a) cheap car! b) Many of my drives are only 20 miles roundtrip! - and then I looked at the realities. For me, many of my drives are 10 miles each way with little detour. But then there is the detour. There's the "ofuk I can't get my kid to daycare because battery". There's the "I can't combine two trips because battery risk".

              The Leaf is to a mainstream EV as a Power Wheels car is to an actual car.

              Most modern EVs start with a range of 250 miles or more, not the 70 to 100 miles that the first-generation Leaf had before the batteries started to degrade, and most don't lose range at nearly the speed with which the early Leaf cars did, either.

              Most people plug in their cars at night, so they are charged the next day. Very few people drive more than 250 miles in a day, and in the rare situations when they have to do so, there are hig

        • by Tailhook ( 98486 )

          If I needed an every day commuter car right now (I don't: I opted out of the commuter rat race in 2015 and the vehicle I drive is 18 years old with a giant V8 and 5500 lbs that sees maybe 3000 miles/year) I'd by a Toyota plug-in hybrid. You can fully charge it with an ordinary 110v circuit in 11 hours and drive over 45 miles without gas.

          If you have that wtf do you need a $60,000 pure EV for? With modern plug-in hybrids not burning gas is a solved problem for 90% of commuters, and when they need to make

          • I can't agree more. For most things, if I had to have one general purpose vehicle, a Toyota PHEV pretty much ticks all the boxes. A charger at home means that local commutes take zero gas. Going on the highway, I can stop at the Buc-Ees for gas and be on the way, or get gas, then plug in the Supercharger array while using their restrooms and getting beaver nuggets, so both the fuel tank and the battery are at/near capacity. Going into extremely rural areas, I can add a rear hitch and stick RotoPax style

            • Jerry cans for a Toyota PHEV? Starting with a full tank and a full battery a Prius Prime goes for 600 miles!
            • Best of all worlds, IMHO.

              I agree that the PHEV offers the best of both worlds. What seems to come up often as a counter argument is that the PHEV is the worst of both worlds, and someone could get the worst of both worlds if they made a bad choice in PHEV.

              There's more than one way to make a PHEV. There's the balance on build cost, battery capacity, and hydrocarbon capacity. I know a family that has waht might be called a "range extended EV" which has a large-ish battery and a very small fuel tank. They routinely take this on lo

          • The RAV4 prime costs about $50k.
          • by shilly ( 142940 )

            I think the problem is that the US has policies in place that prevent you getting cheap EVs with even moderately long ranges.

            I had an EV back in 2018 that cost me the equivalent of $25k and had a 190 mile summer range. It was a supermini in size, though, and US policies are designed to make those cars pretty much unmarketable in America (I'm in the UK).

            Nowadays, you can get a similarly small new EV in the UK for as little as $19k (but it has a shorter range, only 140miles).

        • Re:No shit (Score:5, Interesting)

          by hey! ( 33014 ) on Monday July 22, 2024 @02:31PM (#64646888) Homepage Journal

          We have a pure EV which we plug into a level 2 charger at night, and a plug-in hybrid that gets plugged into 120v, and which is the car we choose for road trips.

          You're absolutely right that the big advantage of a PHEV over an EV is not having to worry about finding charging stations on road trips. But for day to day driving there is absolutely no advantage of the PHEV over the EV. In fact it's a little annoying once every couple of months to discover we need to take the PHEV to the gas station. And of course we'll be pretty unhappy when it comes time to buy a new muffler, even though we almost never *use* the thing.

          But the road trip thing is a temporary situation. It's not like we ever go anywhere that has gas stations but no electricity; the problem is the charging stations haven't been built yet. It's a chicken-or-the-egg dilemma. You need the EV adoption to drive the investment in charging stations, but lack of charging stations is slowing EV adoption. But our EV can add 200 miles of range in just half an hour with fast DC charging, so charging infrastructure would only have to be just a *little* better for us to ditch gasoline permanently and never look back.

        • For someone who is a city person and spends their time using their EV as a metro runabout, EVs are great, especially if you have your own home charger. Home chargers are what make or break EVs for a lot of people, because it saves a lot of time. Even a level 1 (120 VAC charger here in the US) charger is better than nothing.

          However, because power isn't something guaranteed in the US (the people around Houston had 10+ days without electricity), I don't think pure EVs will be something people want. Instead,

        • It won't be long until ICEs become the activist/enthusiast vehicles that are difficult to maintain & take out on long journeys. Petrol stations are going to get harder to find, petrol more niche & expensive & with that oh so sweet extra "but I'm different" premium that only activists & enthusiasts are willing to pay.

          We're transitioning to electric everything. It's happening. Get used to it. It's only going to get faster. Although the USA can be relied upon to resist & struggle agains
          • We're transitioning to electric everything. It's happening. Get used to it. It's only going to get faster. Although the USA can be relied upon to resist & struggle against all reason for as long as they possibly can.

            It'd be nice if any of the EV manufacturers made one without a cellular modem, that was just a car with a battery and not a telemetry generation machine, sending God-knows-what data to God-knows-where. Sure, ICE isn't much better at this point, but the dwindling number is still higher than EVs; I literally cannot find an EV sold in America that can have its modem disabled....so yes, I'll happily resist "buying" a car that someone else has access to.

    • by vlad30 ( 44644 )
      Cost isn't the problem with a Porsche customer. You buy it for fun to drive, Show off factor, etc. What Tesla showed was that an EV was quicker off the mark than most "Supercars" and at a much lower cost. They all started to scramble to protect their 0-100Kmh (0-60Mph for the US) and say they were going green till reality hit. Tesla get range by optimising for a particular speed i.e. general road speed short bursts are ok for fun run your Tesla on a race track and range dives considerably which makes the fu
    • 'I wonder how much an electric Porsche would cost, way over 100k?'

      Not 'would', they do.
      Porsche Taycans come from $99,400 -185,000.

      Macans ditto, albeit they claim that they can drop it to $80,000 if you leave everything out.

      • by shilly ( 142940 )

        Oooh, you can make your Taycan cost a *lot* more than that. Easily over 230k GBP with the right options on a Taycan GTS with Weissach.

    • by hey! ( 33014 )

      A gas Porsche 911 costs over $100k, and people do buy the things. The thing about the 911, it has an audience of people who will literally *gladly* pony up that price because of Porsche's heritage and unique approach to building a high performance car around a gasoline engine.

      That heritage is a lot to walk away from. I don't know if the Taycan will become the EV equivalent of the 911, but there's still plenty of people willing to shell out $120K to $290K for a gas-powered 911, even though they *could* buy a

      • by shilly ( 142940 )

        Agree with all of that. I'm pretty sure most Porsche drivers are able to park off-street and thus put in a charger, too. Also Taycans have sold pretty well (40k+ last year vs 50k+ for the 911).

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Give it five years. Pretty much the entire world has banned IC engined cars from being sold, so it is a choice of EV or no-V. People will be buying EVs or they better like that bicycle commute.

      The automakers that are not on the EV bandwagon will be holding buggy whips and scratching their heads of why they doomed themselves to irrelevance.

      • If is comes to having BEV or no vehicle at all then I expect the democratic process to come into play and have the laws banning internal combustion engines be lifted.

        The "bogeyman" here isn't the internal combustion engine. The problem is fossil fuels. We can have internal combustion engines without fossil fuels. We can have internal combustion engines without a net effect on CO2 in the air. Those choosing not to get on the BEV bandwagon are not likely to be as obsolete as buggy whips since they can off

        • by jsonn ( 792303 )
          Alternative fuels with net CO2 emission are a myth created by the same people that just want to preserve the status quo. They are simply not economically viable.
    • by kick6 ( 1081615 )
      They have the taycan, and audi has an EV SUV that shares a platform with the cayenne. So we kinda know the answer to this already.
    • How much do you think a gas Porsche costs? With options, (which are quasi-mandatory on Porsches) they basically all cost $100k+

    • I wonder how much an electric Porsche would cost, way over 100k? All the automakers got all spun up with the EV craze, now they're realizing, hmm our % predictions are way out of line with reality.

      If by way over you mean $101k then you'd be spot on. The Taycan starts a cool $20k cheaper than the base model 911 which is what people normally default to when thinking of a Porsche.

  • by bazorg ( 911295 ) on Monday July 22, 2024 @12:37PM (#64646450)

    If European manufacturers keep delaying , Porsche will have to fight really hard for their niche, because all of the mainstream brands will turn into niche brands.

    The Chinese manufacturers are doing a great job at releasing a lot of "normal" cars, I don't think there will much appetite for bailouts if this keeps going on.

    • If European manufacturers keep delaying , Porsche will have to fight really hard for their niche, because all of the mainstream brands will turn into niche brands.

      The Chinese manufacturers are doing a great job at releasing a lot of "normal" cars, I don't think there will much appetite for bailouts if this keeps going on.

      You could always close the markets to the Chinese offerings, till your domestic market is ready...no?

      That's what the US looks to be doing...and it isn't like anyone in the western world

    • China will have a bunch of the world, but it is only a matter of time before they are closed off to the US market, perhaps the EU one. Part of it is geo-politics. Part of it is that automakers know that US people will pay 20% to 200% more for vehicles than people in other regions of the world, so want to milk that cow until people can't afford to pay six digits for a basic vehicle, nor pay subscription fees.

      Will Chinese EVs succeed in other places? All depends on how good the grid is. If China made seri

      • Chinese tech will find its way here. One way or another. A protectionist levee is not a long-term strategy.

        I like the Toyota bZ3 more than any EV available to me in America, and that is frustrating. The Toyota bZ3 is made by BYD.

  • EVs are a huge pain. There's nowhere to charge them when you need it. The non-Tesla stations are mostly at Walmart, and the Tesla cables are way too short for most EVs. Why would someone who buys a Porsche even consider getting an EV that will leave them stranded on the highway?
    • Sounds like you do not actually own one. Charging is easy. You can do it at home. There are also enough charging stations around if you live in an apartment building and donâ(TM)t have easy access to one. The hypothetical panic mode where people think they suddenly need to drive 2000 km without stopping. Itâ(TM)s what is holding people back
      • Re: (Score:1, Flamebait)

        by cayenne8 ( 626475 )

        Sounds like you do not actually own one. Charging is easy. You can do it at home.

        There are a significant number of people that cannot charge at home...no off street parking...rental homes where you can't install a charging system, etc.

        There are also enough charging stations around if you live in an apartment building and don't have easy access to one.

        Not sure where you live, but where I live and most areas I travel in...I rarely see by a handful of EV charging stations that are publicly available.

        What pa

        • Here in the United States, there are more and more charging stations available. You can find them on any maps app. But even better, , the Tesla charging stations are opening up to non Tesla cars And those charging stations are pretty much everywhere As others have mentioned once youâ(TM)ve written an electric, youâ(TM)ll never go back to gas. The instant torque is fantastic whether thatâ(TM)s starting at a red light, passing somebody on the highway, or just simply the fun managing corners on
          • the Tesla charging stations are opening up to non Tesla cars And those charging stations are pretty much everywhere

            It's being rolled out on a per manufacturer basis, and presently third party charging (with an adapter) is only open to Ford and Rivian at non-MagicDock Superchargers. I'm in central FL and while I've seen loads of Superchargers, I've never seen any of the MagicDock ones.

            Ever since Musk threw a fit and fired the entire Supercharger team, it's anybody's guess when/if other makes of EVs will be supported. As a Bolt owner, if I actually had to frequently make longer trips, I'd be more than a little miffed ov

          • Here in the United States, there are more and more charging stations available. You can find them on any maps app. But even better, , the Tesla charging stations are opening up to non Tesla cars And those charging stations are pretty much everywhere

            I just picked out a site to look for public chargers like HERE [plugshare.com].

            Looking around, what passes for "public" chargers, are pretty much all on private ground...car dealerships (I guess if you are their customer?)....and hotels in New Orleans (if you're a customer).

            • ...especially when you have the risk for half the year needing to bug out for a hurricane chasing your ass.

              Ironically, an EV is actually a lot better for getting the fuck out of Dodge. Don't have to deal with gas stations that have all likely run out of fuel due to the mad rush of people filling up their tanks, and the power will certainly be on at your destination.

              • Ironically, an EV is actually a lot better for getting the fuck out of Dodge.

                That's certainly debatable.

                I have 3 jerrycans right now in my possession with each able to hold 5 gallons of fuel. I keep them on hand for fueling up my lawnmower, snowblower, backup generator, and "just in case" there's another big storm that damages local filling stations to where it is difficult to get fuel. I can rotate out the fuel so that I can keep it "fresh" (in scare quotes because this is highly variable and subjective), as I found out the hard way small gasoline engines don't like to start on o

        • You speak the truth. I've honestly only ever seen one EV charger in the wild. It's at a brand new bank they just built in my town, and it has exactly 1 charger at the front door, and all day long a tesla truck sits in that spot. I wouldn't be surprised if it was some executive at the place. But we have gas stations on every corner, so I have no plans to ever purchase an EV. I actually went out and bought two new gas cars in the past year to add to my garage just to make sure I always have a good gas ca
        • by shilly ( 142940 )

          People buying new Porsches are much more likely than the average owner to have a home where they can fit a charge. They are rich!

      • I'm gonna assume by your use of km instead of miles that you're not in the USA. L3 charging here often has a higher per mile cost than driving an economy ICE vehicle. If you can't charge at home, the value proposition of owning an EV goes completely out the window.

        As an example, I get about 3.5 miles per kWh in my Chevy Bolt, and EA charges $0.56 per kWh around here - that's $0.16 per mile. Gas is presently $3.59/gal here, so that'd be equivalent to an ICE vehicle getting 22.4 MPG. For comparison, the c

        • Going a bit further: having only one-car garage is keeping us from getting a second EV as setting up an outdoor charger has proven tricky with HOA restrictions. Without that ability to charge at home, it's a hard sell. With that ability, it's trivially easy sell. Might be ok if there were chargers at work -- I've never had that luxury.

    • EVs are a huge pain. There's nowhere to charge them when you need it.

      Gas stations didn't end up at every major highway exit overnight, either. If you can't get past that you'll need to use an app to plan the charging stops along your route for longer trips, then no, an EV isn't for you.

      Why would someone who buys a Porsche even consider getting an EV that will leave them stranded on the highway?

      That's the real crux of the issue. If someone has the budget for a luxury car, they certainly can also afford to keep it filled with gas.

      • If someone has the budget for a luxury car, they certainly can also afford to keep it filled with gas.

        And well...gas isn't all that expensive these days...I think around here average price is about $2.77/gallon for regular unleaded.

      • by larwe ( 858929 )

        Gas stations didn't end up at every major highway exit overnight, either.

        In the wild hinterlands, it's easy to put a few cans of gas in the back and filll up along your journey until you reach civilization. Can't do that with batteries.

    • Your corporate shill script is years out of date. Please ask your handler for some updated talking points.
    • Why would someone who buys a Porsche even consider getting an EV that will leave them stranded on the highway?

      Because unlike you they actually realise there's plenty of places to charge, even in the USA, and most definitely in Europe (Porsche's primary market).

      In several countries already every highway gas station in Europe has an EV charging point these days. In the rest of Europe you may need to drive to the next station over. You actually need to *try* and get stranded these days. In some countries you will definitely be within range of a charger when your car enters limp mode at around 2% battery left.

  • Aren't Porsches all about driving feel?

    Then mind explaining why the Macan is north of 5000 lbs in weight?

    That's two of my gasser cars put together.

    What an absolute porker of a car. No one convince me this is good for road feel or handling. Or the longevity of our road networks -- they weren't designed for cars this heavy.

    Some other EV weights:

    Cadillac Lyriq: 5800 lbs
    Tesla "S" Plad : 4766l lbs
    Polestar 4: Car/Driver estimated 5000-5300 lbs

    I could go on, but you get the point. The true gearheads in this bun

    • by Cyberax ( 705495 )

      I could go on, but you get the point. The true gearheads in this bunch -- you people who lust after Lotus, Mazda, Ferrari, Porsche and other "fun cars" -- how are you taking this almost-doubling of weight, just to appease the Gods of Green?

      EVs have a much higher power-to-weight ratio than even regular gas cars. ICE cars need to get into the supercar territory to even compete. By 2030 it's going to be even more lopsided.

      • EVs have a much higher power-to-weight ratio than even regular gas cars. ICE cars need to get into the supercar territory to even compete. By 2030 it's going to be even more lopsided.

        It's only about 5 years till 2030.

        Unless things change drastically...I don't see it being that much different than it is today.

        We've seen EVs piling up on dealer lots, unable to sell. We've seen a downturn in the US car market in general...so, with EVs being a premium price, that'll hurt them even more.

        And, there is just b

        • by Cyberax ( 705495 )

          Unless things change drastically...I don't see it being that much different than it is today.

          Solid state batteries are coming, and they have about 2x gravimetric energy density compared to Li-Ion. Toyota is projecting 2027 for the wide availability of solid-state cells.

          Hell, I've heard rumblings of Dodge bringing back the big V8 Hemi's...due to possible challenges to the EPA's fleet mileage requirements biting the proverbial dust.

          It might surprise you, but Porsche is not a US company. And Europe is not going back on its EV commitments.

          Realistically, Porsche just understood that its customers don't actually care about performance. The care about owning a Porsche. It's like people who use film cameras now, all the nonsense about photo development is a part of

    • No one convince me this is good for road feel or handling. Or the longevity of our road networks -- they weren't designed for cars this heavy.

      Actually, it's still semi-trucks which do the majority of damage to the roads. As for handling, that's entirely down to personal preference. A lot of us Americans enjoy the feel of driving a vehicle with some heft to it. To me, tiny light economy ICE cars feel like you're driving a go-kart made for children.

    • "Then mind explaining why the Macan is north of 5000 lbs in weight? That's two of my gasser cars put together."

      Unless your gas cars are exceptionally light sports cars like a Mazda Miata or Lotus Elise, that's unlikely. Other than a few subcompacts like the Mitsubishi Mirage, pretty much any 4 seat vehicle is going to be north of 3,000 these days and anything with any luxury pretentions is going to be closer to 4,000. The gas Macan Turbo weighs 4,250. So the EV weight penalty is certainly there, but it's mo

    • by shilly ( 142940 )

      Last ICE Macan weighed 1920 to 2035 kg
      First EV Macan weighs 2295 to 2480 kg.

      So the very largest possible increase in weight is 30% which is, you may have noticed, quite a lot less than a "almost-doubling".

      Yes, EVs are heavier than their ICE equivalents. But they are 20 to 30% heavier, and if you are actually concerned rather than just per formatively concerned about vehicle weight and roads, then you should be focused on the facts that pickup trucks now account for 20% of all consumer sales in the US and th

    • That's hundreds of lbs heavier than my year 2000 gasser half-ton class pickup trucks.

  • Nor is it a metaphor. It's just years.
    Porsche says the transition will take years.

    That's it. And it will. 2 years is years. 20 years is years. So that doesn't mean much at all, but 'years' doesn't make it mean more or less or orther.

    </rant>

    • by kwerle ( 39371 )

      * other. Sigh. Typeo. I get what I deserve.

      • Making typos is the proof you aren't using autocorrect, which goes to your credit. Also these sort of typos is autocorrected by our brains. I had to read multiple times to find it. But in your title I believe it should be "euphemism".

        • by kwerle ( 39371 )

          OMG! Thank you so much for correcting that. I'm this many days old when I discovered that I've been pronouncing (and spelling) that wrong my whole life.

          Damn those Greeks and their crazy words, anyway!

  • the brand damage done by that fiasco is real. You can't do that for something like a Porche.
    • Every major car manufacturer has put out a "what were they thinking?" vehicle at one point or another. Most of Tesla's recent brand damage can be traced back to Musk regularly letting his freak flag fly on X.

      • by dfghjk ( 711126 )

        Tesla makes an entire range of "what were they thinking" cars. It's not a recent development, no matter how hard to try to claim it is. The CyberTruck was a laughingstock LONG before Musk bought Twitter.

        • I'd say only the Cybertruck and maybe Model X falls under "what were they thinking?" The only real problem with the Model X is the overly complicated doors. There's plenty of things not to like about The Models 3, Y, and S, but they were objective successes that are well liked by owners and are competitive in their respective markets.

  • I have never been a Porsche fan.

    A couple of weeks ago I was in the front of the line waiting for the final red light before the Dumbarton bridge headed east. This is next to the Meta facility there.

    In the next lane was brand new cream-colored Porsche Taycan EV. I can't say what variant it was but I think it was the newest. And the car was brand new.

    In my Model Y, I am pretty much used to outrunning other traffic (other than other Teslas) at will, and generally I do but nowhere near full performance

    • by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      You'll graduate from high school soon enough.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Porsche EVs are quite impressive in a number of ways, not just straight line performance. Teslas have never handled well, but the Taycan does. It was also the first 800V car on the market with extremely fast charging.

      They have a similar problem to all the German manufacturers though. They are reliant on battery imports. The Chinese make the best batteries, followed by the Koreans.

      It's still disappointing, and a good example of why cut-off dates for non-EV sales are important. We really should be sticking to

      • by shilly ( 142940 )

        I did see some chatter the other day (can't find it now) that the new government was looking to reinstate 2030.

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          I certainly hope it happens by 2030.

          • by shilly ( 142940 )

            You and me both!

            Car makers are going to feel the pressure later this year, for sure, given that EV market share has hovered around 20% all year and not got to the 22% they need. I'm assuming that's going to create some downwards pricing pressure, which has got to be a good thing.

            • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

              I hope there will be some deals around September, but we shall see. Honda were doing some really good ones back in March, although their current EV is a bit of a weird step back from the Honda e.

  • "We promise that 80% of our production will be in vehicles of unknown sales appeal by 2030 no matter what" would be pretty stupid.

    "If enough people are willing to buy EVs to make 80% of our sales by 2030 we will make sure we can meet the demand" is better.

  • Why pay more for a vehicle that provides range anxiety.
    Hybrids are the answer. EVs depreciate rapidly due to technology advances.
    Take a look at the first Nissan Leaf for example. It only had about a 100 mile range. Who would pay for that now? Maybe a retired person living in Sun City.

  • Tomorrow, tomorrow, I luv ya, tomorrow, you're always, 10 years, awaaaaaay ...
  • The laws in the US and EU may force EV adoption, so Porsche can't just say it will be "driven by demand". Doing so would mean they will be totally unready for an EV mandate, which means their shareholders will sue them.
  • "We can't compete with Tesla and don't expect to be able to anytime soon, but at least our ICE vehicles are fast..."

In the long run, every program becomes rococco, and then rubble. -- Alan Perlis

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