Porsche Chooses Not To Use VW Group's Upcoming EV Platform

Porsche argues in favor of the current platform it's developing with sister brand Audi.

By: Steven Loveday

Mar 25, 2021 at 10:54am ET

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A few weeks ago, we reported that Volkswagen Group has plans to switch to a single electric car platform. The group announced that all brands under its umbrella would eventually move from the current MBW architecture to the upcoming SSP platform. However, we did report that it would be used "for most cars from most brands in the future."

Now, we understand that Porsche reportedly isn't interested in following suit. Instead, the luxury German automaker plans to use the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) platform that it spent years developing alongside partner brand Audi.

Porsche will first use the PPE architecture for its upcoming all-electric Macan SUV, which it says will come to market in the second half of 2022. Audi's Q6 e-tron SUV, which is based on the electric Macan, will also use the PPE platform. According to Automotive News:

"VW Group CEO Herbert Diess said on March 16 that the automaker will develop the highly flexible Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) by the middle of the decade. "By the end of this decade, we will be able to roll out SSP across all vehicle classes."

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While the SSP architecture will replace VW Group's current MEB platform, Porsche wants to continue the development process related to its PPE platform. This makes perfect sense since Porsche and Audi have spent a great deal of time and money on the PPE architecture, and the production of the vehicles using the platform is only about a year or so away.

Head of production and logistics Albrecht Reimold made it clear in a call with journalists that the PPE will be used for "Premium" electric vehicles and the SSP will cover Volkswagen Group's mainstream electric cars. He noted that it will be too expensive to make a single platform to cover both segments. This is especially true when including Porsche's high-performance vehicles in the mix, which he says, "demand very high specifications."