Tesla’s Ludicrous Mode “Is A Facade” Says Porsche Product Manager

A product manager for Porsche was recently quoted as saying that Tesla’s Ludicrous Mode upgrade was a “facade” — using the dig to also claim that the Porsche Mission E will be capable of being run very hard for long periods of time, without overheating the battery.

Here’s the exact quote from the Porsche product manager (as heard by Road and Track): “The thing about (Tesla’s) Ludicrous mode is that it’s a facade. Two launches saps the whole battery. That won’t be the case with the Mission E. You’ll be able to run it hard, over and over; the battery will not overheat, the power control module will not overheat, and the seats will not suck.”

The first thing that jumps out, of course, is that it’s completely ridiculous to say that two launches saps the whole battery of the Model S. Not even close.


 

I’ve also got to say here, even if you ignore the hyperbole (assuming it is just that) … none of that sounds relevant to typical car drivers. How many people need to accelerate 0–60 mph at sub 3 seconds, repeatedly, over and over? There may well be a small subset of electric vehicle buyers willing to pay for the very expensive Mission E in order to have some fun racing at the track … but how many people? Most Tesla Model S and Model X buyers aren’t looking for a racecar. They’re looking for a Model S or Model X.

It should also be noted here that the Mission E isn’t due for release for quite some time … so this is all simply talk, for now.

Porsche Mission E concept

Here’s more:

In case you weren’t aware that Porsche aimed its upcoming all-electric Mission E sedan squarely at the Tesla Model S, a Porsche product manager went ahead and clarified that. In fact, the engineer thoroughly trashed Tesla while loudly proclaiming that the Mission E will be a game-changer in the world of electric cars.

Eric Weiner over at Automobile Magazine recently spoke with a Porsche product manager that isn’t working directly on the Mission E, but seems to know a thing or two about it. The manager said the Mission E will be “something special,” and “a true Porsche through and through.”

Despite the tone that I’ve taken in this article, I am somewhat intrigued by the Porsche Mission E. I’m just also skeptical that the model is being designed with a range and release that’ll make the model compelling in 2020. And I also have to wonder about the attitude of the product manager quoted above…. That kind of entrenched and petty arrogance is never a good sign.

(Tip of the hat here to “yeti” on the Tesla Motors Club forum.)

Video is from the 1st Cleantech Revolution Tour conference. The next one is to be held in Leipzig, Germany, on Tuesday, June 21.

10 thoughts on “Tesla’s Ludicrous Mode “Is A Facade” Says Porsche Product Manager

  1. It’s easy for them to say that. Just like it was easy for Samsung to rip off the iPhone and then criticize and make fun of it in their ads. This sort of arrogance you could expect of Ferrari, Porsche should know better.

  2. Now that Tesla has shown the way maybe Porsche can one-up them? For example, Samsung produced a much better cell phone than Apple once Apple laid the foundation. Samsung’s was water proof, had a replaceable batter, SD cards, longer battery life, bigger screen, faster CPU, etc.. (But it lacked the Apple logo crucial to lemmings. If you are going to sell to lemmings dumb it down until it is exactly as bad as what the lemmings expect.)

    Porsche owners may be crazy, but they care about performance. I’ll be very surprised if they don’t introduce a BEV that doesn’t overheat on the Nürburgring. I’m confident though it will have other limitations, perhaps range, charging, or expensive batteries, or some such tradeoffs.

    1. I have Samsung S6 and S7 and performance-wise they are garbage compared to iPhone. Also the battery life is shit. Apple has the best hardware and best CPUs, but I don’t like their policies.

      1. I was referring to Samsungs older products where they gave you things like SD cards, waterproof phones, and swappable batteries. Now Samsung merely copies whatever Apple produces. I only buy Google Nexus phones so I don’t have first hand experience about the performance of latest Samsung or Apple phones but the reviewers seem to think they are too close to each other to pick one over the other. As can be seen in this review: http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/samsung-galaxy-s6-vs-iphone-6

        However I don’t recommend either. Instead buy last years model of the Nexus 6, not the current model, because they are half price. They are fast enough and always have the latest OS. Then root it and make it truly useful. So it can do the things a phone should be able to do but the carriers don’t want you to do…

      2. I agree – one son has an iPhone and the other a Samsung and I have a Samsung tablet and the iPhone is much superior. Ironically, Samsung makes the components for Apple, (Chinese co. does the assembly) so it is really about the overall design and software and coherent approach to making everything “just work” that put Apple ahead.

  3. At the risk of making crass generalisations, why is it that German manufacturers are so blindly patriotic, and so intent on displaying hubris…at the expense of logic and truth…?

    I have every confidence that the Porsche Mission-E will be a truly epic car; but to blatantly lie about a serious competitor on record, is…hilarious.

    Perhaps public use of fallacies are part of Porsche’s company policy…?

    Until German manufacturers start showing more BEV initiative, and less sickening arrogance…I’ll stick to EVs from other countries. I’d certainly rather have a Rimac/McLaren EV than a Porsche one at this moment…

    1. All Europeans are blindly patriotic about their countries’ cars. If you look at the top 10 selling cars in each country it is much more tilted toward their own country’s products that the US is. Mostly French cars in France, mostly Italian cars in Italy, etc., etc. Compared to Europeans, Americans in aggregate are much more open minded about the car they buy.

      1. Yeah that’s a good point, Chinese people are too. I find that people from China and the States tend to be more open and upfront…I guess it might be related…?

        I think it’s nice though, that so many people in China and Germany are reserving Model IIIs; it shows that Tesla is moving on up!

  4. So…where can I buy this miracle Porsche? Or should I just get a Model S that actually exists?

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