Finance

Porsche is making a $7.4 billion bet on electric cars — and Tesla should be nervous

porsche mission e
A rendering of Porsche's Mission E. Porsche
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  • Porsche is going to spend €6 billion ($7.4 billion) on electric mobility by 2022.
  • The investment doubles the company's previously announced €3 billion ($3.7 billion) investment.
  • The money will go towards the development of the Porsche Mission E, electrification of existing models, charging infrastructure, and facilities updates.

Porsche is going all in on electric cars.

The Stuttgart, Germany-based sports car giant announced on Monday its plan to spend €6 billion ($7.4 billion) by 2022 to develop a lineup of electrified cars.

Monday's announcement doubles the €3 billion ($3.7 billion) electric mobility investment plan Porsche announced last year.

"We are doubling our expenditure on electromobility from around three billion euro to more than six billion euro," Porsche AG chairman Oliver Blume said in a statement. "Alongside the development of our models with combustion engines, we are setting an important course for the future with this decision."

Porsche's announcement comes after Mercedes-Benz announced a $1 billion investment to upgrade its Tuscaloosa, Alabama factory in preparation for EV production.

These are major investments from well-funded and highly experienced automakers. Investments that should challenge Tesla's place atop of the EV foodchain.

Thus far, only Tesla has been able to successfully tap into the luxury EV market. Its Model S sedan and Model X SUV stand alone in their respective segments.

Tesla Model S P100D at Supercharger
A Tesla Model S.  Bryan Logan/Business Insider

Porsche's investment is just the latest play by a traditional luxury and performance brand to come up with a true rival for the automotive wing of Elon Musk's business empire.

Porsche's additional $3.7 billion investment will be allocated to multiple development programs already underway.

This includes $620 million for the development of the Mission E high-performance electric sedan and its derivative model. Another $1.2 billion will go towards the hybridization and the electrification of Porsche's existing internal combustion models. And $868 million will be used to expand facilities while another $868 million will go towards the development of charging infrastructure.

The Porsche Mission E is expected to arrive in 2019 with a starting price expected to be as low as $75,000, on par with the Tesla Model S's starting price of $74,500. Porsche expects the Mission E to deliver 400 to 600 miles of range on a single charge with a top speed of 155 mph.

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Benjamin was an Atlanta-based senior correspondent with Business Insider's Transportation Team, covering aviation and autos. Prior to joining Business Insider, he worked in corporate communications for a global airline, a luxury automotive brand, and a major PR agency. He is a graduate of Rutgers Law School and the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. Top StoriesAmericans have been driving these Chinese-built cars for years — and Biden's tariffs likely won't impact themI drove Hyundai's rugged new $40,000 family SUV. It's packed with useful tech but rough around the edgesThese are the best airlines in the world, according to a survey of travelers — see the full listThe history of Virgin Atlantic: How a record executive took on the airline establishment and wonAirlines are scrambling to fix an unsustainable crisis created by too many cheap flights