Porsche targeting a climate-neutral balance sheet for 2030
80 percent of new vehicles sold by 2030 will be electrified
Porsche 911 last to go electric, and not with current platform
2020 was a challenging year for everyone and every industry, with the automotive industry taking its share of the hits. For Porsche, however, 2020 was a year that proved the company’s resiliency and ability to adapt according to its CEO Oliver Blume.
Announced at the Porsche Annual Press Conference, the company recorded before tax profits of 4.4 billion euros, improving on its 2019 results.
2020 was also the first year of the Porsche Taycan, Porsche’s first full EV of which 20,015 units were sold.
With the introduction earlier this year of the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo and the eventual launch of the Porsche Macan Electric, Porsche is moving forward with an ambitious goal to have a CO2-neutral balance sheet throughout its entire value chain by 2030. The strategy will require an investment of a billion euros.
Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo Turbo S and Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo 4S | Photo: Porsche
“As the first major automaker to move forward with this ambitious undertaking, we want to create an automotive role-model for others to follow in becoming carbon-neutral across the value chain” Porsche Chairman of the Executive Board Oliver Blume said yesterday during a sit down.
Major Porsche sites in Zuffenhausen, Weissach, and Leipzig are already carbon-neutral starting this year, and the upcoming Taycan Cross Turismo will be completely carbon-neutral across the use phase.
“We are not looking at just production, but we also want to eliminate and reduce CO2 across the supply chain and even the use chain.”
In other words, Porsche wants to develop solutions to help Porsche owners reduce and eventually eliminate their own production of CO2. In order to do so, Porsche is exploring ways to create sustainable energy owners can consume during the lifecycle of the vehicle.
One of the ways Porsche could do this is through its eFuel synthetic fuel announced in February. The special fuel could reduce CO2 emissions by up to 85 percent. Blume says early testing of the eFuel in different vehicles including the 911 showed encouraging results.
Moving forward, Porsche will move towards its 80-percent goal by aiming for 50-percent electrified vehicle sales by 2025.
What About the Electrification of the Porsche 911?
As expected, multiple questions during the sitdown revolved around the Porsche 911’s future. Porsche’s flagship will likely be a large part of the 20 percent non-electrified sales expected by the end of the next decade.
“The current platform of the 911 cannot be converted to electric. We don’t know what will happen in 20 or 30 years, but for now the 911 will not be electric” Blume said, confirming an earlier report from Autoblog.
Blume did leave the door open for a hybrid version, although no specifics were given. As for whether Porsche could create a new hypercar with an electrified powertrain to follow in the 918’s footsteps, again, nothing is off the table.
Partnership with Rimac
Porsche also elaborated on its expanded partnership with Rimac which was initially launched in 2018. The company increased its share of the Croatian supercar builder to 24 percent earlier this month.
“Rimac still has the start-up spirit and is a major supplier for us for electrified technology including drivetrains” Blume explained.
