Porsche pushes back the launch of its second EV to 2021

You’ll have to wait a while longer if you want to drive Porsche’s second-ever electric car after the Taycan. Porsche chief Oliver Blume told Bloomberg and others that the Taycan Cross Turismo’s launch has been moved from late 2020 to sometime in early 2021. It’s not due to a pandemic-struck car market, the executive claimed. Rather, the company has “optimized” its release window — the regular Taycan is selling well, so there’s no hurry to sell its more spacious counterpart.

The Cross Turismo shares the same basic name as the Taycan, but it’s more of a competitor to category-blurring crossovers like Tesla’s Model X. The shooting brake-style design offers considerably more room in the back without sacrificing much in the way of performance. When Porsche unveiled the Mission E Cross Turismo concept, it claimed the vehicle would reach 62MPH in under 3.5 seconds.

To some extent, Porsche is taking advantage of uniquely favorable conditions. It still expects to turn a profit in 2020 despite COVID-19, helped both by the Taycan as well as a recovering Chinese car market. The company did have to cut costs, but it has so far refused to cancel new models.

As it stands, the Cross Turismo should play a crucial role in Porsche’s transformation. It’ll join the upcoming Macan EV in bringing electric Porsches to a more mainstream audience. Porsche expects 40 percent of its cars to be completely electric by 2025 — it won’t get there without more practical people haulers. The Cross Turismo’s later release suggests Porsche is confident it will hit that goal without having to rush new models to market.