Porsche to add 1,400 jobs to produce electric Mission E vehicle
Porsche is preparing to add "at least 1,400 jobs to develop, build and sell the battery-powered Mission E," which is said to have been designed as a "Tesla fighter." Initially, the company announced the electric sports car it would create 1,000 jobs. All in, Porsche is expected to spend around $1.1bn on the new model, with plans to sell at least 10,000 units per year to reach profitability. Porsche has made some big promises regarding the Mission E since it was revealed in September, including speeds of 0–62 mph in under 3.5 seconds, travel of up to 310 miles on a single charge, and recharge up to 80% battery capacity in 15 minutes, thanks to an 800-volt charging system.

Porsche will be cranking out its first electric car as part of Volkswagen A.G.'s aggressive plan to dive headfirst into the electric car arena over the next decade—and that move will mean Porsche will add 1,400 new jobs to put its Tesla fighter on the road, according to the carmaker.

Bloomberg reports that Porsche plans on building roughly 15,000 copies of the new electric sports cars, which was previewed with the Mission E sedan concept, in its inaugural year. The car is expected to reach production in 2019, its rapid progress facilitated by Porsche's €1 billion investment in this model.

According to Porsche supervisory board Uwe Hueck, the company needs to sell at least 10,000 copies per year of any model, including the new electric car, for it to be profitable. Once sales reach at least 20,000 per year, he told Bloomberg, "it starts to be fun."

Around 900 of the jobs will be in production, according to Porsche personnel chief Andreas Huffier, with 300 more in development and the remaining 200 or so in administration. The Tesla-fighting electric Porsche will be built in a new factory in Zuffenhausen, not far from where the carmaker builds the 911.

The additional 1,400 jobs represents a 5 percent increase in Porsche's global workforce, which currently numbers 26,200 strong. That number is twice what it was only six years ago, the result of the carmaker's attempts to keep up with the success of the Cayenne and Macan. In 2015, Porsche sold more than 80,000 Macans and more than 73,000 Cayennes, making the two SUVs the company's best-selling models by far.