Porsche Aiming to Sell 20,000 Mission E Electric Cars a Year

With a 300-plus-mile driving range, a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds, and a 15-minute charging time, Porsche’s plans for the Mission E electric sedan are nothing if not ambitious. That ambition apparently extends to the car, too; according to the company’s CEO, Porsche plans to sell 20,000 Mission E cars per year.

Porsche CEO Oliver Blume revealed the company’s expected production plans for the Mission E to German automotive publication Automobilwoche earlier this week. That number would make up a little less than 10 percent of Porsche’s 2015 sales, though the carmaker reportedly expects sales to trend upwards in the next couple years on the strength of its latest 911, Panamera, and 718 Boxster/Cayman models, as well as the upcoming new Cayenne.

The new expected sales figure is a 33 percent gain from a prediction earlier this year, when Bloomberg postulated that Porsche was aiming for 15,000 Mission Es per year. Porsche supervisory board member Uwe Hueck told Bloomberg that the carmaker needed to sell at least 10,000 copies per annum to break even; the 20,000-unit-per-year mark, Hueck said, was where things started to get “fun.”

Porsche has already begun a €1 billion investment in its new Tesla-fighting electric luxury sedan, which is expected to reach production in 2019. The company has announced plans to build a new factory in Zuffenhausen specifically for the Mission E.

But while the 911 isn’t expected to grow an electric motor anytime soon to match the Mission E and the Panamera and Cayenne E-Hybrid models, the 718 could, according to Porsche head of development Michael Steiner. According to the same story in Automobilwoche, Steiner said the company is considering adding a plug-in version of the 718 Boxster (and presumably, the Cayman as well) to sell alongside the current ICE-only variants. The interview didn’t make clear whether Steiner was talking about a plug-in hybrid or a pure EV—but either way, it seems like there’s electricity in the 718’s future.