With the full unveiling of the Taycan, we can say that Porsche is at the very least somewhat serious about being a leader in electric cars, especially when it comes to performance. While nothing is official, we might see the upcoming Porsche hypercar turn out to be fully electric with the help of Rimac, of course.
Porsche has certainly taken a liking to the Croatian automaker. Initially they took a 10% stake in the company, but then recently increased it to 15.5%, clearly seeing potential in the fledgling company.
Dr Stefan Weckbach, Porsche’s head of EV projects, sat down with Motoring during the Frankfurt Motor Show to discuss the future of Porsche’s EV projects, specifically the potential for their upcoming hypercar to be fully electric and Rimac’s role in all of this.
For those unaware, Porsche’s next hypercar is due sometime in 2025. The Retro 917 Concept (pictured above) was shown off earlier this year to give a potential idea as to what the car could end up looking like. Whatever the eventual electric hypercar looks like, it has to maintain a linage of very special Porsches that include the 959, Carrera GT, and 918 Spyder. All of these cars have competed for the fastest/quickest production cars upon their release.
Weckback states that the upcoming car will be no different:
“Well, all of those Porsche super and hypercars, they aim to be the best in the market at the time. This is the target for the next one as well,”
This time, they will have to not only face the Aston Martin Valkyrie making a whopping 1120 hp from its V12 hybrid powertrain, but also the impending Tesla Roadster 2.0.
While the probability of a fully electric model is unknown, it will almost definitely be electrified to some degree. With that being the case, Rimac will no doubt share some expertise and Weckback has nothing but praise for the company.
“We see potential for future co-operation with this company, that’s why we raised our stake in Rimac.”…“I think they are extremely successful in the field of high-end all-electric engineering,”…“The knowledge exchange between them and us is valuable for both parties. So we just decided to strengthen our relationship,”
For those that are hoping to see solid-state batteries make it into the next electric hypercar, Weckback is skeptical about them being viable by the time the car releases.
“I’m pretty sure solid-state batteries are going to be the next step. I think there’s going to be a technology step in lithium-ion batteries within the next few years, but is solid-state [technology] … ready for industrialisation and mass market within the next five years? I don’t know, but I don’t believe it. I think it’s rather talking about seven to 10 years. So there’s different ideas and discussions ongoing and there will definitely be a next Porsche hypercar in the market, but I cannot tell you today when [it will be], and what the technology of it would be.”
As always, with the projected release date being so far away, there is no use in trying to make serious predictions. However, the further out the release date, the more likely that the upcoming Porsche hypercar will end up being fully-electric.
What do you guys think? What are the chances that the upcoming Porsche hypercar will be all-electric? How much of a hand will Rimac play in all this? Let us know down in the comments below.
Source: Motoring
