Porsche's new EV game plan

Gran Turismo video-game concept hints at firm’s future electric sports cars

- FELIX PAGE

Porsche has created a new electric sports car concept for the seventh instalment of the Gran Turismo video-game franchise, giving clues to the brand’s evolving design language as it embraces electrification.

Named the Vision Gran Turismo, it is Porsche’s first stand-alone concept for the racing series, following cars revealed by Audi, Bugatti, Jaguar, McLaren and Toyota in recent years. It will become ‘drivable’ when the new game is released on 4 March 2022.

Although there is no production intent for the concept, Porsche has built a full-size physical counterpart, and exterior design boss Ingo BauerScheinhütte told Autocar that realism was a priority.

“That’s what we tried to achieve: that it feels like it could be on the road,” he said, adding that “there are always design elements that you might see on future cars.”

The Vision Gran Turismo comes soon after Porsche’s fully drivable Mission R concept, which more closely previews future production cars – specifically, the electric next-generation 718 Boxster roadster and Cayman coupé.

Like that concept, the Vision Gran Turismo is a compact, squat sports car with traditional mid-engined proportions and a focus on aerodynamic efficiency.

Bauer-Scheinhütte said that its size and silhouette are nods to Porsche’s heritage as a manufacturer of small sports cars, such as the 356 and 550, and that the designers focused on creating a concept “that isn’t too extreme but makes you just want to drive the car”.