Porsche and Audi to jointly develop EV platform

Audi is teaming-up with Porsche to develop a new all-electric vehicle platform called the Premium Platform Electric architecture (PPE). 

You might be wondering why this is such a big deal since both brands come under the VW group, but this inevitably has to do with costs. Porsche Chairman Oliver Blume was quoted saying that building the architecture alone would have cost the company at least 30 per cent more than what it could have been if jointly developed. Audi Chairman Rupert Stadler said that the joint effort was unprecedented in the automotive industry, and will be an integral part of Audi’s future. 

So what exactly is unique about the PPE architecture? Let’s just say that the current crop of EVs are basically an outcome of plugging batteries and electric motors onto cars that were essentially designed for internal combustion engines. PPE, on the other hand, will take into account everything; this includes wheelbase, packaging and interior dimensions to extract all possible benefits of going electric. Plus, the platform will be scalable to include a number of future models- from hatches to SUVs.

Once they pull this off, the platform will permit both brands to launch new EVs a lot quicker, and sources conclude that the first models to be underpinned by the all-new PPE platform are expected to arrive in the year 2021.