Like all of us, you’re going to be very, very rich in the future. We all know this. And, as a very rich person, you’re going to be in a market for a hypercar with proper billionaire-style doors. Also, you’re probably going to want it to be electric, because what are you, Amish? Porsche has your back here, or at least an idea, because they just announced their new electric concept hypercar, the Mission X. At the moment it’s just a design and tech study, but this is likely the template for Porsche’s next hypercar, following in the tire tracks of the 959, Carrera GT, and 918.
The design, unlike many modern hypercar designs, isn’t trying to telegraph the technology as its main visual thrust, but instead feels more flowing and curvy, maybe even sensual, if I can say that without making everybody feel kinda gross. Refreshingly, aggression isn’t the primary emotional motivator behind the design, and that appears to be a deliberate choice from Porsche, who says in their press release,
“The Mission X represents the pinnacle of performance and modern luxury. At the same time, its sculpted form and muscular lines demonstrate that hypercars do not have to look aggressive. “
That’s great! The greenhouse is a glass dome with a carbon fiber reinforced plastic exoskeleton, and the doors open Porsche 917-style, up and forwards:
The lighting signature is vertical, inspired by the old Porsche 906 and 908 racing cars, but incorporating modern Porsche’s four-point lighting visual identity, and I think it works very well, feeling very hypercar-appropriate.
Around the back, Porsche has put some welcome thought into the taillight treatment. From the press release:
A full-length light unit that appears to float characterizes the rear of the Mission X. Transparent, illuminated Porsche lettering is a standout feature. The sculptural rear light emerges, as if suspended in the air, from a support structure and extends across the entire width of the vehicle in four segments. While charging, the ‘E’ of the Porsche lettering pulses.
Looking at it, it is extremely dimensional, as they’ve basically made a dimensional plastic logo/sign into a heckblende-style taillight.
Porsche has some lofty goals for this car, or, really, whatever car ends up being the production development of this:
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be the fastest road-legal vehicle around the Nürburgring Nordschleife
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have a power-to-weight ratio of roughly one hp per 2.2 lbs.
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achieve downforce values that are well in excess of those delivered by the current 911 GT3 RS
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offer significantly improved charging performance with its 900-volt system architecture and charge roughly twice as quickly as the current Porsche frontrunner, the Taycan Turbo S
To achieve these very non-trivial triumphs, they’ve done a lot of smart engineering. The battery pack, for example, is installed centrally, behind the seats, giving the car essentially the same sort of mass distribution as the mid-engined racing cars they’ve been making for decades. This means, of course, significant agility, and by doing this instead of the more EV-traditional battery-as-skateboard-chassis design of most EVs, they’re able to make the overall car much lower.
The interior is quite striking, with what look like carbon fiber reinforced plastic shell seats inset with cushioned panels that, in their leather-covered goodness, remind me of a chocolate bar. There’s a special mount (Porsche says “bayonet system”) on the passenger’s side for a stopwatch module, so you can use this for track and rally timing needs. They also say it has “vital data of the driver,” which makes me wonder if it’s measuring pulse or respiration?
There’s also a full set of cameras to record whatever shenanigans, or possibly hijinx, you get into in one of these, all activated from a single REC button on the dash.
Porsche goes into the layout and drivetrain in more detail in their press materials:
The next generation of powerful, permanently excited synchronous machines (PSM) are used as electric motors – similar to the Mission R concept study. The direct cooling of the stator guides the oil directly along the copper windings. The heat from the motor can thus be dissipated directly at the source and the efficiency of the electric motors can be increased.
As is typical in motor sports, a very high peak and continuous output as well as a very high level of efficiency are achieved. Thanks to the enormous performance potential of the electric motors, the power is transmitted to the wheels via a compact, weight-optimized 1-speed gearbox without sacrificing acceleration. The energy for propulsion is supplied by a high-performance battery with state-of-the-art technology paired with a 900-volt system architecture. The very high voltage enables performance advantages without sacrificing weight and additional heat losses.
The battery, which is also equipped with direct oil cooling, offers an optimal combination of efficiency, weight and performance with its high-end performance cells. The cell chemistry is designed for maximum performance. The battery installed centrally behind the seats in the vehicle (so-called E-Core layout) enables a low, driver-optimized seating position. Compared to an underbody battery, the E-Core layout centers the mass in the vehicle. Similar to a conventionally powered mid-engine vehicle, this enables outstanding agility.
Porsche also notes that “cooling systems are also integrated directly into the supporting structures of the body” which is very, um, cool. I’ve seen racing cars that use the internal volumes of their roll cages for coolant reservoirs, so I wonder if there’s something similar in concept happening here. The battery pack is also noted to be structural, so I’m guessing replacement won’t be cheap, in case you were planning to pick one of these up for a song in, say, 2072.
looks like an unlicensed pagani from badly crunched video game
It is very clever, they have managed to put an electric drive train into a GMA T50. I mean this as a huge compliment. At this level of vehicular insanity the basic shape is going to be somewhat similar any way the wind blows.
“have a power-to-weight ratio of roughly one hp per 2.2 lbs” or 1hp:1kg like the Koenigsegg One:1. Good benchmarking.
I agree this is pretty generic. Porsches have lost a lot of identity since they’ve got rid of the round headlights. Why did they do that?
As I’ve been typing this it’s occurred to this reminds me of the 1980s Le Mans racer 956 and 962 (more accurately, it reminds me of the Scalextric 957 or 962 I used to race endlessly as a kid in the 80s https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NTsAAOSwbYJf~DzU/s-l640.jpg )
so maybe it does look Porsche like after all!
Porsche’s design language is subtle in that it’s all about how the surfaces work with each other.
It’s astonishingly clever, and only a few other marques (Lotus comes to mind) really pull it off.
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Interesting view point, I’d be interested to read a longer explanation of this.
Handy of them to keep the lower part of both seats brown. It will make things less obvious when non skilled race car drivers drive this.
“Gents and ladies, power to weight ratio is the ultimate indicatior for a sports car”
Ariel: “…m’kayyy, well, here’s this thing, we’ll call it a car (although it is not exactly one), but it weighs 1349lb for up to 365hp, which is ’bout 3.7lb/hp, m’kayyy ?…”
Donkervoort: “…sooo, well, here’s that thing that actually looks like a car and is a car, and it weighs 1653lb for 500hp, which is ’bout 3.3lb/hp, sooo ?…”
Bugatti: “…Go home-euh, we are-euh dooingue 3.04lb/hp, it izzze true-euh with a weight-euh over about-euh tzree times-euh ze weight-euh of eez-eur ze Donkervort-euh or ze Ariel-euh, but be imprezed-euh, bee verrry imprez’ed-euh…”
Porsche: “…Einz kilogramme per hp, or per 2.2lb izz our offer, iz all that matters, it can come in 4400lb for 2000hp, or 3000hp for 6600lb, or 4000hp for 8800lb. weee can just crank zee power of zee electric, ours shall be zee ultimate zports car…”
Yoke! Long live the yoke!
Also, the asymmetrical seat colors are interesting (all brown for passenger, white/brown for the driver).
I don’t mean to be hypersensitive or hypercritical, but all this hyperbole about a hypercar stimulates my hyperactive imagination, which leads to hyperventilating and that aggravates my hypertension sending my blood pressure into the hypersphere and makes me sweat like I’ve got hyperthermia. You’re killing me here!
Yes.
Didn’t seem like a usual JT topic at first, although the design notes are sensitively written. Then I realized: it’s a hypercar with brown/brown color scheme!
What a miss by Porsche. Had they just made it a shooting brake we would all be ordering one right now! Brown on brown wagon?! I’ll take two!
Genuinely, a long roof supercar would be the absolute tits
Breadvan for the win!
Would be fitting if one of these wound up killing Vin Diesel.
yikes
Yo, like what the fuck, man.
Idk I have a dark sense of humor.
Don’t think I would have used the word “fitting” here. Maybe instead…
“Wouldn’t it be ironic if one of these wound up killing Vin Diesel.”
Of course, “ironic” in the Alanis Morrissette sense meaning lacking actual Webster’s definition of irony.
With a name like Mission X, I would assume it would be Tom Cruise.
I’m a bit of a Porsche fanboy but this does nothing for me. I think the design is generic as hell. I personally don’t see how this implements the Porsche design lineage at all despite what they’re saying. You could tell me it’s (insert manufacturer here)’s new EV hypercar and I’d give you a Hank Hill “yup!”.
Honestly I don’t even see the point of EV hypercars in general…or frankly the vast majority of hypercars in general other than some of the ones that truly changed the game like the McLaren F1 or Veyron…although I do still drool over the CGT in a very masochistic way (it actively tries to kill its driver) as well as the 918. But those cars were still very Porsche.
I don’t really see how this is. It just looks like a nerfed Le Man’s prototype or an AI generated EV hypercar. Obviously I’ll never be able to afford something like this so it doesn’t matter, but electrification is going to make all of these bedroom poster cars hard to distinguish. Now get off my lawn!
Agreed on the design, just looks generic
I agree it isn’t a mind-blowing design. But that top down look does it for me. Brand is irrelevant, as I’ll never own anything like this, from any maker.
I’m glad they got away from the Porsche design language. It is way past the sell-by date.
You ever see Chris Bangle ask Jason Castriota what made the [Saab] Phoenix a Saab? Yeah, I want to ask the designers of this what makes it a Porsche? That’s not to say this (or the Phoenix) are ugly; they aren’t. They look fantastic. But they carry virtually zero of the brand identity with them, which is a shame. Like you said, you could throw a McLaren (hell, it doesn’t look that far off a Senna) badge on it, or a Cadillac badge, or some unknown start up on there, and no one would have known.
As someone who owns two electric cars, I agree. They are great for daily driving, but are totally uninteresting for involvement.
I also have grown to admit that I don’t want a car capable of doing sub seven minutes at the ring. I’ve done my share of track days, but that performance level is just too damned serious to be fun.
So, it’s got a Rimac battery, which makes sense.
Considering how Jason Cammisa and DTS loved the Rimac Nevera, I’m hopeful there are a lot of lessons learned from the Rimac deal.
Hell, Rimac got smooshed together with Bugatti in a joint venture, with Mate Rimac running it.
You have to be doing a lot right for that to happen.