Porsche has announced changes to its EV strategy, confirming it will no longer expand its in-house battery production business.
The decision has been made because of a slower-than-expected take up of electric cars. Investment will be redirected into a broader product and software offensive.
This marks a significant shift in Porsche’s product strategy and comes just months after it secured a majority stake in V4Smart, a joint venture with German battery specialist Varta.
It also hints at a renewed focus on combustion-engined models as well as electrified derivatives of existing models, rather than an all-out expansion of dedicated EV models.
Expenses linked to the change in plans - including the battery programme retrenchment - have been raised from €800 million (£679.5m) to €1.3 billion (£1.1bn).
Around €200m has already been deployed in the first quarter of 2025 on various projects, according to Porsche’s chief financial officer, Jochen Breckner.
“We are investing in the future of Porsche - in products, software and measures with which we want to strengthen the company sustainably,” he said.
The change of course follows a challenging start to 2025 for Porsche, with deliveries in China, its largest single market, falling by 42% year on year.
The first sign of a shift in Porsche’s electrification plans came in June 2024, when it confirmed that production of the current ICE Cayenne will continue after the introduction of the Cayenne EV.
Shortly afterwards, Porsche confirmed it was considering adding a new ICE SUV to its line-up before the end of this decade, which would effectively serve as a replacement for the ICE Macan.
Nevertheless, electrification remains central to Porsche’s future strategy. Plug-in hybrid and electric models accounted for almost 40% of its global deliveries during the first quarter of 2025, led by the Macan Electric and the updated Cayenne E-Hybrid.
Porsche still expects EVs to make up more than 20% of its total sales this year, and further electric models are on the way.
An electric successor to the 718 Boxster and Cayman is currently in the final stages of development, while the Cayenne EV is set to be launched in 2026.
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That's because they've made an A grade mess of it. What are we up to now? 4 recalls and 6 workshop campaigns on the Taycan battery alone never mind the 22kW AC onboard chargers made from spaghetti and the 400->800V DCDC converter that should've been two more contactors for a simple series/parellel switch from day one?
Love my Taycan but compared to my Model S it really is a very poor effort on the EV and systems robustness side. Not what I would have expected from Porsche but at least it means they're cheap as the residuals are in freefall.