Porsche's EV lead takes shots at Tesla while hyping the Mission E

Porsche is readying its Mission E for launch, with a 2019 target sales date. The all-electric Tesla Model S competitor has a lot of car fans excited, and has been drawing covetous looks since the concept’s unveiling back in 2015. Now that launch is drawing closer, however, we have some new info about the car, how it charges and its performance.

Porsche EV lead Stefan Weckbach told a group of journalists that Porsche, unlike Tesla, is developing its car as a performance vehicle that can maintain top speed and reproduce acceleration reliably, specifically calling out Tesla’s vehicles’ ability to do 0 to 60 in under 3 seconds “only twice – the third attempt will fail,” reports Autoblog.

He’s likely referring to a software-based restriction on use of Tesla’s Launch Control and aggressive acceleration features, which was limited both in terms of total uses and times it could be used successively to limit its impact on vehicle powertrain parts, as well as the Tesla’s battery. Tesla lifted this limitation in response to customer complaints, however.

Besides throwing some mildly outdated shade Tesla’s way, Weckbach also talked about how the vehicle will quick-charge, aging back 250 miles of range during a 20 minute charging session, though that will take a lot of infrastructure expansion in the U.S. and abroad. Tesla’s investment in its Supercharger network begins to look like a smart hedge and early lead in this context.

Porsche’s Mission E arrives next year, as mentioned, so it’s basically time to get excited. Tesla fans likely be swayed by cheap shots at their beloved cars, but a battle on performance merits does look to be brewing.

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