- September 7, 2021 source www.thedriven.io
- Joshua S. Hill
Porsche has arrived at the IAA Mobility 2021 conference in Munich this week with a new concept car in tow, the Mission R, the company’s latest vision of the future for all-electric customer motorsports.
Unveiled officially on the first day of the IAA Mobility conference, the Mission R is Porsche’s latest concept sports car modelling the company’s future.
The Mission R follows in the tire treads of the Mission E, which was unveiled in 2015, and the Mission E Cross Turismo from 2018, which Porsche used to preview its first all-electric sports car model series.
The Porsche Taycan sports saloon unveiled in 2019 and the Taycan Cross Turismo cross-utility vehicle, unveiled in 2021, were descendants of these concepts, in terms of appearance and technology.
Next for Porsche is the Mission R, which the company is billing as its vision of what customer motorsports will look like in the future.
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With an 80kWh battery and two newly developed electric motors delivering up to 800kW, the all-wheel drive Mission R accelerates from zero to 100km/h in less than 2.5 seconds and is able to reach a top speed of 300km/h.
According to Porsche, the Mission R is able to achieve the same lap time performance as the current Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and is able to produce a constant output of 500kW in race mode thanks to new motors and battery cells, all of which are equipped with innovative direct oil cooling.
The two motors are split between the front and back, with a 320kW motor powering the front axle while a maximum 480kW is delivered to the rear.
“It’s indescribable; the immediate surge of power from the two electric motors is something you simply have to experience for yourself,” said Timo Bernhard, the Porsche brand ambassador and former works driver. “The only time I’ve ever experienced such an amazingly powerful boost was in the Le Mans-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid car.”
Charging hasn’t been overlooked, either, and thanks to the vehicle’s 900-volt technology and Porsche Turbo Charging, only 15 minutes is needed between races to charge the battery from 5% to 80%, at up to 340kW.
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“In addition to our involvement in the Formula E World Championship, we are now taking the next big step forward in electric mobility,” said Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche AG. “The concept study is our vision of all-electric customer motorsports. The Mission R embodies everything that makes Porsche strong: performance, design, and sustainability.”
For those unable to make it to Munich this week, four hefty articles were uploaded by Porsche detailing separate aspects of the Mission R – including the exterior, the body and chassis, the drive system, and the interior.
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The Mission R isn’t just about speed and looks, though, and Porsche has gone out of its way to increase the sustainability of the vehicle with a body made largely of natural fibre reinforced plastic (NFRP), which is made primarily from flax fibres from farming.
Very much a race car and not designed for casual road driving, the Mission R comes with two modes, the so-called “qualifying mode” and a race mode.
Power output from the two electric motors is transmitted to the front and rear wheels via straight-toothed input gearboxes and mechanical limited-slip differentials, while the modular design of the drive system helps improve cost efficiency, as the gearbox, electric motors, and pulse-controlled inverters (PCI) on the front and rear axles are identical.