Porsche says EV intransigence will lose it $6B. Its solution? Move even slower
Porsche has announced a delay in some future EV models, which parent company VW says will cost it $6B in forward profits. It’s doing this amid a global boom in EV sales, instead committing to an inferior powertrain choice that will only make it more irrelevant as a company.
The world auto industry is currently electrifying rapidly. That electrification is largely being led, in this moment, by Chinese players, who are offering low-cost EVs with the latest battery and infotainment technology, not held back by a century of old-style combustion-engine thinking or by entities in government that are actively trying to kill their own country’s competitiveness.
The rapid rise in Chinese EVs has caught Western automakers by surprise, even though it has been clear for more than a decade that EVs are the way to go (as we’ve been saying here at Electrek for that entire time).
It’s resulting in huge disruptions in the global automotive market, with Western automakers being squeezed out of overseas markets, and even having trouble selling to their own domestic markets. Western countries have responded with emergency tariffs (a concept which never really helps), but Chinese brands continue to grow in Europe.
We’ve even seen some directly embarrassing moments, like a smartphone company, Xiaomi, deciding about three years ago to go from building smartphones to building cars, one of the most complex products known to man, and then beating Porsche on its home turf by setting the fastest-ever four-door lap record at Nürburgring with a stripped-down Su7 Ultra, beating the Porsche Taycan by over 20 seconds (Xiaomi later went back and beat the Taycan with a stock model by 2.5 seconds).
Remember: Xiaomi makes smartphones. Meanwhile, Porsche has been making cars for a century (and its founder even made a hybrid in 1902).
And so, in recognition of the fact that Chinese brands are eating their lunch, Porsche and VW have just announced that… they’re going to move even slower.
When competition moves too fast, keep up by… moving slower?
Porsche CEO Oliver Blume (who is also CEO of parent company VW) cited the “massive changes within the automotive environment,” on a call on Friday, some of which are detailed above in this article. His response to these massive changes, though, is to go in the opposite direction.
Porsche said it would slow down its EV rollout, delaying the launch of some EVs, and instead offering a planned ultra-luxury SUV positioned above the Cayenne as a combustion or hybrid model, rather than an electric one. An electric version may still come later, though.
Availability of current combustion engine models, including the Panamera, will be extended into the 2030s.
Porsche said as a result of these changes, its forward margin outlook would drop, and VW said that this would result in a reduction of around $6 billion in profits for 2025.
The move also reportedly has thrown the VW/Rivian software partnership for a loop, as VW’s new commitment to polluting combustion models means it will have to find another source for software, since Rivian’s software is meant for EVs, not combustion vehicles.
According to Manager Magazin, there is even a possibility that VW’s doomed internal software project, Cariad, will have to be tapped to build software for these combustion models.
Cariad was the darling of former VW CEO Herbert Diess, who was one of the industry’s most ardent EV advocates. But difficulties with Cariad resulted in Diess being ousted and replaced by Blume, who reorganized the division, adding significant irony to the situation that Cariad may now be thrust into increased relevance due to Blume’s delay in EV models.
Porsche is in opposite world on EV demand
Porsche says that “weak demand” for EVs is forcing it to make this move, even though EV demand continues to rise globally and specifically in Europe and Germany where Porsche calls home. EV sales are up 30% year-to-date in Europe and up 43% in Germany, along with being up 27% globally.
And for Porsche specifically, we have one very clear measurement of whether consumers want electric or gas cars: the Macan. Porsche sells both gas and electric versions of the Macan, and it turns out, the Macan version does way better: nearly 60% of the Macans Porsche sells are electric.
Porsche has seen sales declines itself this year, but those sales declines occurred in territories where EV sales are booming the most (Germany, China), and were driven by declines in sales of Porsche’s combustion models, not its EV models. In fact, electrified Porsche sales are up, while combustion-only sales are down.
CEO Oliver Blume said that he’s counting on “more flexibility” from the EU to soften its emissions standards and allow Porsche to keep putting these polluting vehicles on the road – vehicles which will continue to poison you well into the 2050s.
Blume says this despite the EU’s commitment last week to maintain the emissions targets Blume wants changed, and despite Blume’s cohort, Gernot Döllner who is CEO of Audi (also a VW subsidiary), correctly stating that bickering over emissions standards is “counterproductive” and that “the electric car is simply the better technology.” The EU did say it will review its 2035 zero-emission target early, but seemed open to only minor flexibility.
Meanwhile, climate change continues apace
Meanwhile, the background of all of this is that climate change (which transportation is the largest contributor to in rich countries) continues apace, and that polluting vehicles continue to poison humans globally in costly and destructive ways.
The world needs a solution to climate change, and the faster that solution comes the better. No matter how expensive it seems it might be to solve the problem that we collectively have spent the last century and a half causing (and have supercharged in the last 30 years), that cost will only get higher as time goes on and as more damage is done.
Many studies have pointed out that the faster we solve this problem, the cheaper it will be to fix, so every moment lost as a result of companies misjudging trends and committing to more-polluting models while hoping government will change to let them continue to pollute only represents more cost, death, and disruption for humanity and for all species on Earth.
In total, fossil fuels kill 8 million people per year and receive $7 trillion in subsidies from the ignored costs of this pollution. Porsche is committing to be a greater part of those deaths and health costs into the future with its move, and harming European industry in doing so, by giving up the future of the industry to faster-moving international competitors.
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![Yangwang U9 Xtreme cracks 300 mph to become fastest production car EVER [video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/09/Yangwang-U9-Xtreme.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Move over, Bugatti! The new Chinese Yangwang U9 Xtreme electric hypercar just blasted its way to a staggering, 308.4 mph top speed on a German test track, seizing the “world’s fastest car” crown and busting the last traces of the myth that electric cars are slow.
Just weeks after BYD announced that the nearly 3,000 hp, all-electric Yangwang U9 Track Edition model set a new global speed record for electric vehicles after hitting a ridiculous 472.41 km/h (~293 mph), the Yangwang crew returned to Germany’s Automotive Testing Papenburg GmbH (ATP) test track with the U9 Xtreme with its sights set on a new goal. They didn’t want the world’s fastest EV title – they wanted the world’s fastest production car title. Period.
The BYD Yangwang crew got that record, rocketing all the way to 496.22 km/h – that’s 308.4 mph to you and me!
“This record was only possible because the U9 Xtreme simply has incredible performance,” explains German GT racing driver Marc Basseng, who piloted the Chinese EV on its record-setting run. “Technically, something like this is not possible with a combustion engine. Thanks to the electric motor, the car is quiet, there are no load changes, and that allows me to focus even more on the track.”
The Yangwang U9 features the world’s first mass-produced 1,200V ultra-high-voltage vehicle platform. Developed by BYD, the car is powered by the company’s latest li-ion phosphate batteries in BYD’s now-familiar “blade” configuration.
The U9 Xtreme’s record-setting run dethrones the previous Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, which managed 304.8 mph back in 2019. The Bugatti now has to settle for the lesser “world’s fastest combustion-powered production car” title, which is objectively lame.
Definitely NOT lame
The company says it’s selling “no more than 30” of the Xtreme U9 EVs, presumably to customers with incredibly long driveways. The Xtreme version features smaller, 20″ wheels (instead of 21s), and gets wider, 325 mm tires (up from 275 mm) to match the rears. The fronts also ride on a narrower track.
You can watch Marc Messang put the 3,000 hp Yangwang U9 Xtreme electric hypercar to the test in the video, below, then let us know what you think of China’s first-ever world record-setting vehicle in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Fastest production car EVER
SOURCE: CarNewsChina.
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With dual electric motors pumping out 776 hp, over 400 miles of all-electric range, and a relatively low MSRP, the new AUDI E5 Flagship Quattro electric wagon is electrifying the Chinese wagon market – scoring over 10,000 orders in its first thirty minutes on sale!
First launched last fall, the new Audi-backed AUDI sub-brand kept the sexy wagon aesthetic but ditched the Germans’ interlocking rings and Auto Union heritage in favor of a simple, all-caps AUDI logo on the E concept wagon. Now seen in production trim, the production AUDI E5 Sportback is surprisingly true to the original concept – except in the horsepower department, that is.
But, while a production car having lower horsepower figures than the concept car that preceded it is pretty typical, the production AUDI E5 is different: it actually offers more peak power than the 765 hp concept!
That’s right, kids! the range-topping Flagship Quattro version of the new AUDI E5 Sportback offers buyers 776 horsepower (that’s 11 more than the concept), and gets 402 miles (CLTC) of range from its 100 kWh battery. And, while that version is a monster, even the base-level Pioneer version at just 235,900 yuan ($33,000, as I type this) offers a 76 kWh battery pack sending power to a 295 hp rear-mounted electric motor and over 600 km of range (~385 miles).
It’s a solid achievement in value and tech, and the Audi people seem pretty proud of themselves. “The AUDI E5 Sportback is our first model based on the Advanced Digitized Platform, and it delivers on our brand promise: the best of both worlds,” says Fermín Soneira, CEO of the Audi and SAIC Cooperation Project. “Audi’s DNA and engineering excellence is blended with China’s digital ecosystem and innovations, specifically tailored for our tech-savvy customers.”
And it’s pretty.
AUDI E5 Sportback
The wagon’s exterior, while not necessarily shouting “Audi” in the conventional, Western sense, is still proportioned well enough to carry the four rings (or, looked at another way, a VW logo). But, while it’s a great-looking wagon on the outside, it’s on the inside that the all-new E5 AUDI Sportback really sets itself apart.
The interior of the AUDI E5 Sportback is noticeably different from any Audi model, being much more inline with similar entry-luxe EVs sold in China. The E5 dash also sports a 59″-inch” wide screen that stretches across the entire dash, digital side mirrors, Alcantara seating surfaces, and wireless phone chargers.
All that tech is powered by the QUALCOMM Snapdragon 8295 automotive chipset with 5-nanometer precision and the ability to perform 30 billion operations per second, and the Chinese-market AUDI OS offers what its makers call, “an intuitive experience designed to make the vehicle occupants’ lives easier.”
You can take a look at the new E5 Sportback’s interior, below, then let us know whether or not you think an Audi AUDI like this (and its purple mood lighting) would be a hot seller Stateside in the comments.
E5 Sportback interior
SOURCE | IMAGES: AUDI.
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While Tesla has struggled to deliver on the hype of its self-driving promises, Einride has been quietly developing a Level 4 self-driving electric truck. Now, that quiet effort is paying off. For the first time, the company is operating a fully autonomous, heavy-duty EV on public roads in Europe.
The Einride Level 4 autonomous HDEV is being operated under a relatively new Belgian regulatory framework, and showcases how Einride (and Europe) might hope to take the lead in advancing autonomous freight technology. Now in service at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, one of the most complex logistics centers in the world, Einride believes its autonomous trucks can move goods with more efficiency and lower emissions than human-driven, diesel-powered rivals.
“Antwerp is more than a logistical hub,” explains Johan Klaps, an alderman at the port of Antwerp. “(Antwerp) is also a place where the mobility of tomorrow is tested and concretized. Autonomous and sustainable applications such as Einride’s proves that innovation is a driver for competitiveness and economic growth.”
Einride autonomous HDEV
The Einride truck itself is an impressive piece of engineering, fitted with a robust 320 kWh li-ion battery pack that promises more than 650 km (405 miles) of all-electric range, thanks to a combination of slippery aerodynamics, energy-efficient electric drive motors, and (of course) the energy-smart driving tactics employed by its impressive self-driving software.
Einride says its autonomous driving system (backed by a remote operator, Waymo-style, to help deal with edge cases) processes over 5 million data points per second, using radar and LiDAR to feed AI that generates real-time driving instructions for seamless navigation and freight delivery. And, thanks to its purpose-built, cab-less design and 82,000 lb. GVWR, each electric truck can operate with fewer than one remote operator per vehicle, paving the way for far more cost-efficient and expansive logistics operations without the need for many more operators.
“What we are seeing today in Antwerp perfectly aligns with European ambitions,” says Andrea De Candido, Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) DG RTD – European Commission. “(We’re) developing innovative technologies that are efficient, safe, sustainable and scalable. Through pioneering projects like this, we strengthen Europe’s position in future-oriented automated mobility solutions.”
With driver shortages still hitting the industry and electric semi fleets already running across Europe, the Middle East, and even here in the US, it’s only a matter of time before Einride rolls out its autonomous trucks in more markets.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Einride; via LinkedIn.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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