Audi, Porsche See 30% Cost Savings in Shared EV Platform

Volkswagen AG’s Audi and Porsche luxury car units say the electric-vehicle chassis they are co-developing will reduce their combined platform engineering costs by 30%.

The two brands intend to use the so-called modular PPM (premium platform electric) chassis to carry a variety of electrified models beginning in 2021. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler tells Germany’s Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten the overall program will involve an investment of a “low-single-digit billion-euros.”

Stadler confirms that Audi will debut four electrified models in the next three years: two sedans in Nackarsulm and two SUV/crossovers in Ingolstadt. Porsche CEO Oliver Blume says there’s a “good chance” Porsche’s first EV, a sports car, will be assembled in Leipzig.

The CEOs agree that collaborating on the new platform will reduce their combined development costs for the EV chassis by 30%. The program will entail adding 300 product developers are Porsche and 550 at Audi, according to Stadler.

Porsche also has taken the development lead on a high-performance specialty platform called SPE (presumably short for supercar platform electric) for sports cars and supercars. The SPE chassis will be shared with Audi and Lamborghini beginning in about 2025.​​​​​​