After the Mission E, Porsche to Develop an Electric Supercar Platform for Sharing

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Porsche is apparently working on a new supercar platform for itself. However, both Audi and Lamborghini are said to be able to get in on the action, too. The platform is an entirely electric one, dubbed SPE, and it’s to be part of Volkswagen Group’s “third-wave” shift towards a fully electrified fleet.

However, the platform’s existence was only officially mentioned in VW’s capital markets presentation from November. The report shows SPE coming into play after the solidification of the initial MEB platform and the establishment of VW’s PPE (Premium Platform Electric) architecture — intended for luxury segment models after 2021. As the third phase of the group’s electrification strategy, SPE-based vehicles likely won’t enter production until 2025.

Beyond the architecture being intended for sporting models, the capital markets presentation doesn’t provide any detailed information. Fortunately, Automotive News was able to get a senior VW Group executive to confirm that Porsche will front SPE development “for two-door sports cars and supercars.”

Last year, VW Group said it intends to produce more than 80 new electrified models by 2025 — including about 50 purely battery-powered vehicles and 30 plug-in hybrids as part of its Roadmap E strategy. The automaker aims to equip each of its group models with a full-electric or plug-in hybrid powertrain before 2030.

That would still place Porsche’s Mission E, which is supposed to be ready next year, on a timeline far too early to take advantage of the new SPE platform. Instead, it will remain on the bespoke “J1” platform, hinting at what’s to come. (Not to spoil the ending, but it will be more electrification.)

As for the sporting EV platform, a VW Group spokesman said it was much too early to provide further details. “We do not want to comment on future projects in detail at the moment,” he said.

We can, of course, speculate to our heart’s content. Lamborghini unveiled mockups for its Terzo Millennio concept EV last year and Audi needs a replacement for the R8 e-tron. While neither of those models are a shoo-in, both brands have shown a clear interest in building battery-powered supercars. In the interim, MEB will underpin the VW brand’s upcoming I.D. brand, along with all EVs for Skoda, Seat, and Audi.

[Image: Porsche]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Brandloyalty Brandloyalty on Jan 11, 2018

    Sub-600 wants you to know: "You can be virtuous in style now."

  • Arach Arach on Jan 12, 2018

    I feel like at this point the mission E should already be out. Its starting to take NSX-like rollouts.

  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
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