Porsche to Abandon Diesel, Invest $7.1 Billion in Electric Mobility

Porsche is moving ahead with its electric pit stop concept, and with their Taycan EV due next year, the German automaker announced they’d be dropping diesel.

While ultra-low-sulfur (“clean”) diesel shows tremendous promise – California has mandated it over traditional diesel since 2006 – a combination of legislation, climate change, and a finite supply of fossil fuels should eventually favor hybrid and electric vehicles.

That and diesel hasn’t been a part of Porsche’s lineup since February.

In 2017, diesel accounted for only 12% of Porsche’s global portfolio, and it’s dropping quickly. And recent events haven’t been kind to diesel’s image, or Porsche’s for that matter.

Just recently, Volkswagen, Porsche’s parent company, became embroiled in a scandal involving monkeys, diesel, and doctored test results – back in 2014, Volkswagen, Daimler, and BMW funded a study that exposed monkeys to diesel fumes under the auspices of proving that VW Beetle emissions were safe.

But the test Beetle was doctored with software that curbed its emissions – the result was far less harmful than standard VW Beetles. And for that, monkeys were exposed to diesel fumes for four hours!

Oh, and 124,000 Volkswagen EV chargers were recently found to contain cadmium, a highly carcinogenic metal that causes metal fume fever, chemical pneumonitis, pulmonary edema, and death.

You might say that Volkswagen and Porsche are both highly motivated to do right by the environment – or at least to push cleaner, less polluting (and less scandalous) options.

For his part, Porsche’s Chief Executive said that, "Porsche is not demonizing diesel. It is, and will remain, an important propulsion technology. We as a sports car manufacturer, however, for whom diesel has always played a secondary role, have come to the conclusion that we would like our future to be diesel-free."

According to Autoblog, Porsche is set to invest $7.1 billion in electric mobility by 2022, and their EV is due in 2019.

Read more about this here: https://www.autoblog.com/2018/09/23/porsche-drops-diesel/