Porsche set for radical new look in electric era

How can you bring new ideas while respecting brand heritage? 

“We have to push both tradition and innovation at the same time. We’ve been building cars for 75 years and have been called the laziest designers in the car industry. “We always try to be as innovative as possible, but we don’t want to revolutionise our design. It has to be an evolution, and we’ve been using this recipe for 75 years.”

What are the challenges of producing electric versions of your current models, such as the 911? 

“It’s not about the package. The biggest challenge with the 911 is its very strong heritage. It’s the one car we’re most careful about, and we need to be when moving into the next generation.

“When we designed the [current] 911, we made half a dozen skateboards which showed very different directions, just because the heritage is so strong and heavily influenced by the original car.” 

What were the biggest takeaways from the Vision 357 project? 

“We asked ourselves ‘what is the main thing that makes a shape?’ and interestingly it was the headlights. Ten years ago, I would have said that the most important exterior element on a Porsche was the headlights. 

“But if you look at what we have done on the 357, Mission X and even the 963 LMDh [endurance racer], we’re slowly figuring out that the headlights are not the most important thing. 

We can play around a bit, and that’s an area [in which] we used to be very careful.” 

How will you make halo EVs feel as special as the [old ICE] Carrera GT and 918 Spyder? 

“When doing halo cars, there’s always a good reason for doing it. There’s always an intrinsic reason behind them because we have to build a car that’s relevant to the market and relevant to the brand as well. 

“For exterior designers, it’s the shape that makes a car special, but its shape is very much dependent on the technology that we want to bring and the message we want to send. 

“The Mission X is a good example, because now we’re confident that we can make an impact with electric cars.”

Old-school GT look has no future

Asked if the long-bonnet, cab-back format used for the old 944 and 928 could work for an EV, Porsche exterior design boss Ingo Scheinhütte suggested this isn’t an avenue the firm is actively pursuing.