Correction: Porsche working on high-performance EVs

(
Corrects second paragraph - Boxster testing begins from 2011.) Porsche has announced that it plans to take on Tesla by developing its own high performance electric sports cars.

The German premium brand revealed July 26 that it is working to electrify three of its Boxster sports cars and plans to test them in Stuttgart from 2011.

The research cars will be used to test batteries and the new electric drive components developed by Porsche, as well as the infrastructure needed to make EV sports cars a reality.

"We will definitely be offering electric sports cars in the future," said Michael Macht, the President and CEO of Porsche AG.

"But such a concept only makes sense if it offers performance and a cruising range comparable to that of a sports car today."

Although a far more powerful brand, Porsche faces significant competition from US-based Tesla, the only automaker currently to have an EV in series production and the brand regarded as "the first maker to crack the EV legitimacy barrier" (in the words of Wall Street Journal editor Joseph White).

Its €84,000 all-electric Roadster, in comparison to the city EVs that are about to hit the market from Nissan, Mitsubishi and Chevrolet, offers sports car performance (0-97km in 3.7 seconds) and a realistic range of 393 km.

http://www.porsche.com