And the 911 could be electric by 2030

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Porsche AG CEO, Oliver Blume, says the upcoming Mission E will "redefine" the world of performance electric vehicles. In an interview published through Porsche channels after the brand's 2017 Sustainability Report was released, Blume highlighted the four-seat, dual-motor electric car's green credentials, and talked up its performance. "Well over a year ago, we switched all our plants to 100% natural electricity sources, which underlines how seriously we take sustainability," Blume said. "The Mission E will not only redefine the high-performance e-vehicle segment, it will also give a boost to Germany as a technology producer and thus to possibilities offered by electro-mobility in general."

Blume's claims are backed by a set of numbers published elsewhere in the Sustainability Report: as promised by the concept, the car will have more than 600hp (447kW) for a sub-3.5-second sprint to 100km/h. Range is expected to sit somewhere north of 500km, and (with the right hardware) the car can charge to 80 per cent in just 15 minutes. "It will set standards and will represent motion in more than one sense," Blume argued. "The only things that the Mission E will not offer are boredom and forbearance." Although Porsche is pushing hard into electro-mobility, having invested heavily in a dedicated plant to build electric vehicles, the move was described as "the most ambitious and risky project" ever undertaken by the company.

There are fears among enthusiasts that push will spell the end of the 911 as we know it. There's already talk about a hybrid 911, for example. Blume went some way to allaying those fears, although he said "by 2030, the sportiest Porsche will have an electric drive". "Who knows," he said. "Maybe by then even our iconic sports car, the 911, will be electric." "Before we leave petrol or diesel behind, the next decade will see an increase in the parallel use of combustion engines and alternative drives," he elaborated. "A clear trend is developing, and we will deliver. I am not going to do anything hasty, however." MORE: Porsche news, reviews, comparisons and videos

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