Porsche&rsquo;s $680m factory expansion moves towards EV production

Porsche has said it is moving closer to beginning EV production at its Leipzig plant in Germany as a €600m ($680m), 75,500 sqm expansion continues. Porsche has invested more than €1.3bn in the factory over five expansions since its opening in 2000. When complete, all-electric, hybrid and petrol cars will be built under the same roof.

Construction work on Porsche’s €600 million ($A973,980) expansion of its Leipzig manufacturing facility continues apace as it moves towards the beginning of electromobility production, according to the German automotive giant.

“Over the past few weeks, we have reached some important milestones on our way to becoming an electromobility site”, Gerd Rupp, Chairman of the Executive Board at Porsche Leipzig GmbH, said on Tuesday in a company press release.

“The period of time between now and the start of production of the next Macan generation is certainly going to be a challenge. However, it is also an opportunity to future-proof the plant and to prove ourselves as a team.”

Porsche’s Leipzig production facility, home of its Panamera and Macan brands, saw the laying of a new body shop back in March 2019.

Measuring in at 75,500 square metres, the expansion will enable Porsche Leipzig to begin developing “purely electric vehicles,” according to Albrecht Reimold, member of the executive board for production and logistics at Porsche AG, including the third-generation Taycan, which was unveiled back in October.

This is the fifth plant extension at Porsche Leipzig and, since the initial ground-breaking ceremony in February 2000, Porsche has invested more than €1.3 billion into the facility.

“Porsche in Leipzig has evolved from an assembly plant to a technology driver for the entire European automotive industry,” said mayor of Leipzig, Burkhard Jung, who visited the site earlier this month in lieu of the official topping-out ceremony, which was cancelled due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. “The milestones for developing the drive technologies of the future are being set right here in Leipzig.”

In addition to the development of an entirely new, electromobility-focused body shop, Porsche Leipzig’s assembly line is also being significantly modified and the existing production line is also being expanded, scheduled to fit in with the upcoming summer plant shutdown.

Upon completion of the expansion and redevelopment, three types of drive types will be produced on a single factory line – petrol, hybrid, and purely electric vehicles – giving Porsche Leipzig maximum flexibility in the manufacturing of new vehicles.

Porsche Leipzig has been producing hybrid vehicles for a decade now and is also home to Europe’s most powerful fast charging park. Porsche unveiled in Februaryl its EV fast charging park at the Porsche Leipzig customer centre which offers a total capacity of 7MW which can charge some models up to 100 kilometres of range in only five minutes.

Boasting twelve rapid charging points with 350 kW DC and another four 22 kW AC charging points, the charging park is open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, for customers of any and all vehicle brands.

“Our employees have years of experience in dealing with alternative drive types. They can’t wait to start working on electric vehicles in addition to our hybrid models”, said Gerd Rupp. “We think it’s important to involve the entire workforce in the upcoming change so we have already initiated the qualification measures for the purely electric Macan.”

Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.