According to interviews with the German Manager Magazine, sources from Porsche, Mercedes and Audi report that all three companies are preparing to respond to Californian Tesla for its latest creation, the Tesla ModelS.
Matthias Müller, Porsche’s chairman, says the company is working on a fully electric car, which is based on Porsche’s well-known platform (Modularer Standardantrieb-Baukasten) and has many similarities to the Panamera, which was also presented in a hybrid version. Autocar UK adds that Porsche is aiming for a weight lower than the Tesla’s 2,107kg and a modern electric motor with horsepower that can “match” it.
All of this, of course, is not expected before 2018, from the German giant.
On the Mercedes side, sources say that there is already a sedan in the plans, but because they need a lot of time to perfect it, it will not be ready before 2021. The battery that the company currently has is too large to fit inside the car, so they are in the redesign stage.
Audi is finally closer to attracting Tesla buyers, as its recent announcement of the Audi Q8 e-tron mentions its launch in 2017. Audi, of course, does not aim to compete with the Model S, but with Tesla's Model X, the SUV that the American company will launch on the market in March 2015. Porsche may even collaborate with Audi to manufacture the car's battery, with the latter being in the final stages of the R8 e-tron.
Finally, it is worth noting that in 2013, Tesla surpassed all three German companies in sales.
