In a rare move, Porsche has announced that it plans to build its own network of electric vehicle charging stations. The company also announced that by 2030, 80 percent of its sales will come from electric vehicles.
The move was outlined during the automaker’s annual meeting, where it also announced plans to expand its EV portfolio with the all-electric Macan compact SUV and 718 sports car.
Porsche EV owners currently rely on third party companies for their charging needs. The automaker, which sells the Porsche Taycan in addition to some plug-in hybrid models, has partnerships with electric vehicle charger supplier Ionity, a joint venture with Porsche’s parent company Ford, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen. But now Porsche has expressed its willingness to build its own electric vehicle charging network, a la the Tesla Supercharger.
The chargers will be built along busy corridors in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
The chargers will be built along busy corridors in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, with the first installations to take place at the end of the year. The Porsche-branded charging stations will be “exclusively for Porsche customers,” the company said, and are intended to complement the Ionity charging network in Europe.
The investment in premium charging stations is intended to boost Porsche’s electric vehicle sales, which it hopes will account for 80 percent of sales by 2030. The company is also spending money on producing batteries, which it hopes will be ready for mass production by 2024.
Porsche sees its charging stations as luxury lounges where EV owners can drink and relax while their cars are plugged in. The executives said they would later consider expanding the network to China and the US.
As for the automaker’s upcoming electric vehicles, Porsche said its next-generation 718 mid-engined model will be purely electric. The 718 is inspired by the Mission R race car concept. But while the Macan electric crossover is coming soon, we won’t see the 718 EV until 2025.