HALF A DOZEN ENGINEERS stand there, arms crossed, as the car rolls up to the charger. The 405 freeway rushes by in the background, maybe 100 meters away, six lanes in each direction. Half a mile in the distance, the 110 freeway does the same thing. The racket of combustion-engine traffic is cacophonous — so loud, in fact, that it can be heard inside a helmet, with earplugs, over the soft hum of the electric Porsche at “idle”.
The Porsche experience Center Los Angeles is located at the intersection of two of the busiest freeways in southern California. The device we are here to test is neither a racing car nor an actual production prototype, though it does a bit of each job. Porsche say their Mission r is worth nearly €10 million (Rs 85 crore) and that the car’s two electric motors can produce a combined 1,088 hp for short periods of time in “qualifying” mode (Porsche promise 0-100 km/h in just 2.5 seconds – eek).
The vehicle itself is the same basic shape as the current 718 Cayman but about 60 millimeters shorter in length, 100 mm wider, and 100 mm lower. it looks as if a Cayman and a Taycan had a baby and then someone chose to sit on the head of that baby, squishing it, though not unattractively.
‘It’s a study,’ Marc Lieb tells me, watching the Mission r take a charge. Lieb has won le Mans four times as a driver, one of those overall in Porsche’s 919 Hybrid, and is now working Pr for Porsche ag. ‘But, as always with Porsche, when it’s a study, there are some new and very good ideas behind it.’
Denne historien er fra January 2022-utgaven av Car India.
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Denne historien er fra January 2022-utgaven av Car India.
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