Tesla certainly isn’t the only EV company making strides in the automotive space, but if you’re looking for an all-electric luxury sedan, Tesla has for some time now been the only game in town. Indeed, the popularity of Tesla vehicles is what prompted more traditional automakers like Porsche and BMW to pay attention and invest in EVs in the first place.
Interestingly enough, Porsche over the past few years has been especially candid when it comes to discussing the strategic threat posed by Tesla and its subsequent foray into the EV space. Famously, Porsche Cars North America CEO Klaus Zellmer a few years ago went so far as to say that Tesla’s Model S likely drew away consumers who would have otherwise purchased a Porsche.
“We have lots of respect for Tesla and, yes, I’m sure there are some Porsche customers, that in terms of connectivity, digital stuff in the car and electric battery in the vehicles, didn’t find the car that they wanted with Porsche so they bought somewhere else,” Zellmer explained two years ago.
Of course, Porsche wasn’t just going to sit idly by and watch Tesla eat into its sales. On the contrary, the company over the past few years has been working on a Model S competitor formerly known as the Mission E and now dubbed the Porsche Taycan.
Porsche officially launched the Taycan last month and it will certainly be fascinating to see how Porsche’s EV offering does in the marketplace. In the interim, Zellmer recently had some interesting things to say about the Taycan and Tesla during an interview with Teslarati’s Sean Mitchell.
When asked whether or not Tesla drew any inspiration from Tesla’s work on the Model S, Zellmer answered:
Well, I think all car manufactures have taken inspiration from Tesla, because Tesla has been the pioneer. They’ve done something that a couple of years ago, nobody would have expected anybody to be able to do. So we have great respect for them.
[Tesla vehicles] are surely impressive if it’s about acceleration, the user experience, and all the digital stuff in the car. I think the Taycan actually sets itself apart when its about repeatable acceleration, when it’s about the car really behaving like a true sports car when you take it to the limit beyond the limit, and what happens then, how you control the car. So we’ve taken a different route because we are a different brand, but yes, inspiration is something that we all need.
Zellmer’s full interview can be viewed below:
