Porsche shows off electric roadster concept
Porsche has presented the Vision 357 Speedster for the 30th anniversary of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The open electric sportscar is the sister model of the closed Vision 357, with which Porsche started its 75th anniversary year.
With the 357 in the name of both concept cars and, of course, also in the design, Porsche borrows from the 356 – the manufacturer’s first model series that received its general operating licence in the summer of 1948. Even though the 357 is intended as a homage to that original Porsche, the developers rely on an electric drive.
The Vision 357 Speedster is based on the technology of the Porsche 718 GT4 e-Performance. The electric motor and battery technology thus come from the Mission R and the chassis from the 718 GT4 Clubsport. The exact technical data of the two 357 studies are not known. However, the technology donor 718 GT4 e-Performance has an electric all-wheel drive with one permanently excited synchronous machine (PSM) per axle, which can reach a peak output of up to 800 kW. The 80 kWh battery operates at a system voltage of 900 volts and can be charged from five to 80 per cent SoC in around 15 minutes.
In terms of bodywork, the Vision 357 Speedster relies on the typical feature of a “speedster”, namely a flat, shortened windscreen. “It emphasises the monolithic body all the more,” says Porsche in the press release. The study does not have a roof; only a thin fabric soft top is possible, but it has to be fitted by hand. Instead, Porsche borrows from the concept of earlier, open sports cars: Instead of the passenger seat, a tarpaulin, the so-called tonneau cover, stretches. A passenger seat is not installed and not intended: The study only has a roll bar behind the driver’s seat.
“The Porsche Vision 357 is a nod to the first Porsche model line, Ferry Porsche’s dream sports car. And since the 356 has burned itself into the collective brand memory as both a convertible and a coupé, the same logic applies to the concept car: there can only be two,” says Michael Mauer, Head of Style Porsche. “The Porsche Vision 357 Speedster embodies the essence of the brand. Driving pleasure and driving dynamics combined with an extremely purist form. As with the Mission X that we presented just a few weeks ago, this model demonstrates that even with fresh design genes, the Porsche DNA shines through.”
At the beginning of June, Porsche had already presented the Mission X, a concept version of an all-electric hypercar. The two-seater with gullwing doors is likely to become more than just a design study and could go into series production (in a modified form) as the successor to the 918 Spyder hybrid hypercar.
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