Porsche Kills Diesel
Three years after the emissions scandal, Volkswagen AG (VLKAY) subsidiary Porsche is dropping diesel.
Porsche will end diesel production, the BBC reports. Instead, the company will concentrate on electrics, hybrids, and gasoline.
“The diesel crisis caused us a lot of trouble,” Porsche CEO Oliver Blume admits. Not surprising Blume sounds relieved to be rid of the technology.
The trouble includes a €1 billion (£900 million or $1.18 billion) fine a German prosecutor recently slapped on Volkswagen. The fine is addition to $30 billion (£23 billion) VW is paying out to settle lawsuits and fines in the United States.
Porsche Paid Drivers to Dump Diesel
For its part, Porsche will change the software on Cayenne 3.0 V-6 diesels, a press release states. The software allegedly enables the vehicles to cheat on emissions tests.
Porsche dealers will install the software update. German Porsche recalled the Cayenne 3.0 V6 Diesel in July. In particular, up to 21,500 Cayenne SUVs were recalled.
Tellingly, Porsche offered incentives of up to €5,000 ($5,894.32) to European drivers that switch from diesel to other technologies. Porsche paid the incentives to Europe drivers last year, an old press release indicates.
Porsche Changes 12% of Models to get rid of Diesel
Dropping diesel is a big deal for Porsche because 12% of its models worldwide had diesel engines.
Interestingly, the diesel models disappeared from Porsche’s portfolio line up in February, TechCrunch reports. However, the company did not make diesel’s demise official until 24 September 2018.
There are still true believers in diesel at Porsche despite the problems it caused for the company. “Porsche has no intention of demonizing the diesel engine — it is, and will remain, an important drive technology,” Deputy Chairman Lutz Meschke, claims on LinkedIn.
“As a sports car manufacturer for which diesel engines have traditionally played a subordinate role, we have come to the conclusion that we can survive without diesel models in the future,” Lutz admits.
Porsche still committed to Gasoline
Porsche is still committed to gasoline, despite its well-publicized electric car plans.
“Petrol engines are well suited for sporty driving,” Blume told the press.
Despite Blume and Lutz’s pronouncements, Porsche plans to invest €6 billion ($7 billion) in electrification, Tech Crunch estimates. Markedly, half of all Porsche vehicles could feature an electric drive by 2025.
Importantly, Porsche will invest $580 million (€492 million) to make the Taycan a reality. The Taycan is the all-electric sports car formerly known as the Mission E. Auto industry observers expect the Taycan to reach the market in 2019.
Conversely, the Mission E webpage is still available in the United States. The Taycan could have a 300-mile range and an output of 600 horsepower or 440 kilowatts, Porsche claims. Those are the specs for Mission E on Porsche’s web page.
Specifically, the Mission E could go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds and 0 to 125 miles per hour in less than 12 seconds. The Mission E is described as similar to the 919 Hybrid that won the 24 hour challenge at Le Mans.
It looks as if diesel’s days are numbered. I predict that several automakers will follow Porsche’s lead in sending diesel to the scrapyard.
