Porsche have announced their intention to double investment in development of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles over the next four years. Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG, Oliver Blume said “We are doubling our expenditure on electromobility from around 3 billion euro to more than 6 billion euro ($7.44 billion)”. This includes funds necessary to bring their latest Mission E electric vehicle to full production.
 
With 600 hp on tap and a range of 500 km the Mission E (see image) is seen as a direct rival to the Tesla model S.  The announcement does not mean that Porsche will stop production of conventional four-stroke engines (yet) but underlines the importance of electric and hybrid power plants necessary to meet future vehicle emission regulations that will be coming into force in many countries around the world.
 
Around half a billion Euros from the additional 3 billion Euro investment will be used to bring the Mission E into production, targeted for 2019. Porsche is also sinking around 700 billion Euros into the setup of a fast charging infrastructure for their vehicles and have announced additional funding for the development of hybrid engines for their existing range of vehicles and for modernisation of their production facilities.