Though it’s a concept car, the Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo could become a production model after the Mission E sedan arrives in showrooms.
Porsche took its first step in the station wagon segment when it introduced the Panamera Sport Turismo. It could soon add a second long roof to its catalog of performance-bred models. The Mission E Cross Turismo concept unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show hints at what it might look like.
The German firm explains its latest concept evolved from the Mission E that made its debut at the 2015 Frankfurt Auto Show. Some of the styling cues (including the 911 -inspired low hood and the rectangular headlights) come straight from the original design study. It sits taller than the Mission E, which nearly hugged the ground and it looks more rugged thanks to add-ons like the back trim around the wheel arches and the rocker panels.
On one hand, this is a completely different kind of Porsche. On the other hand, we would be remiss not to point out it reminds us a little of the toughened-up 959s that won the grueling Paris-Dakar Rally in the 1980s. Porsche’s off-roader heritage goes well beyond the Cayenne.
Designers looked toward the future, not the past, to put together an interior that’s high-tech while remaining intuitive to use. The driver faces an evolution of the 2015 Mission E’s dashboard that looks much closer to production. There is a wide, wing-shaped TFT screen in lieu of the instrument cluster, plus two additional screens that stretch nearly the entire width of the dashboard. The slanted center console incorporates another touch-sensitive surface the front passengers use to adjust the climate control settings. The only buttons are on the multi-function steering wheel.
Eye-tracking technology puts the information the driver wants front and center. If a weekend getaway is in order, Porsche’s DestinationApp helps the passengers plan by suggesting potential destinations and points of interests along the way. The software illustrates what the brand means when it says it’s going digital.
The Cross Turismo is a station wagon, an electric one at that, but it’s a Porsche above all. It is powered by a pair of electric motors that join forces to deliver 600 horsepower to all four wheels. Stefan Weckbach, the head of Porsche’s electric vehicle project, told Digital Trends on the sidelines of the Geneva show that Porsche teamed up with an external supplier to design the Mission E’s motors. They draw electricity from a lithium-ion battery pack.
Each electric motor lies over an axle, a setup which gives the Cross Turismo on-demand all-wheel drive, while torque vectoring and dynamic chassis control (DCC) technology boost driver engagement. The wagon takes 3.5 seconds to reach 60 mph from a stop, and engineers went to great lengths to ensure it can do that over and over again without losing performance. An 800-volt charging system provides a 250-mile charge in just 15 minutes. Alternatively, wireless inductive charging can also top up the lithium-ion battery pack.
Porsche remains committed to introducing the Mission E next year. It will compete in the same segment as the Tesla Model S. While the Cross Turismo hasn’t been approved for production yet, Weckbach told us it’s one of the options currently on the table. It’s based on the Mission E so making it a reality wouldn’t be overly costly or time-consuming.
