Porsche Walks Back EV Targets After Big Promises

A few years ago, there was a big PR wave, with automakers coming out and telling the public all sorts of exciting figures, promising to sell X electric vehicles by Y year. They were nice, buzzy headlines that helped drum up consumer interest in EVs. Years later, many automakers are falling short of these big claims as the realities of an emerging market — like ethically sourcing materials, battling high production costs and more — begin to set in. Porsche is the latest.

Originally, it told the world that 80% of its sales would be all-electric by 2030. Now, Porsche tells Reuters "the transition to electric cars is taking longer than we thought five years ago." However, the automaker insists that it could still hit that target. "Our product strategy is set up such that we could deliver over 80% of our vehicles as all electric in 2030 - dependent on customer demand and the development of electromobility."

It sounds very much like “customer demand” and “development of electromobility” (ie charging) are factors that are limiting Porsche’s lofty target. Indeed, later in its statement, Porsche says that there is a massive disparity between its three biggest markets as far as EV adoption goes. Chinese owners are very eager for the transition, while uptake in the EU is much slower, with the demand for Porsche EVs called “spotty” in the US. In the end, Porsche says its strategy to co-develop gasoline and electric powertrains is “more important than ever.”

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