Porsche latest to jump on electric bandwagon

Porsche has been weighing bids from Panasonic and Bosch for a long-range battery as it prepares to challenge Tesla Motors with an all-electric sports car.

Costs for the package offered by Bosch would be higher than the competing technology from Japanese peer Panasonic, which supplies Tesla’s batteries, according to analysts, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential. The advantage to Bosch’s offer would be less-complex logistics.

“We’re in the final stage of making a decision,” Porsche chief executive officer, Oliver Blume, said in an interview at the Geneva International Motor Show.

The unit of Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest car maker, earmarked 1 billion euros ($1.5 billion) to build its first battery-powered sports car in December. It’s part of the parent company’s broader push for more low-emission electric and hybrid cars.

Volkswagen has sped up its electric efforts since admitting six months ago it had cheated on emissions tests for diesel cars.

Audi chief Rupert Stadler said recently that the company, a fellow Volkswagen unit, would buy batteries for its electric vehicles from Korean suppliers LG and Samsung, who have plans in place to start producing battery cells in Europe.

With the Volkswagen scandal throwing the long-term future of diesel into question, other car makers are also turning to electric vehicle technology.

Mercedes-Benz said last week it would invest 500 million euros to build a second battery factory in Germany because it expects demand to pick up.

Porsche’s electric sports car will be based on the low-slung Mission E concept shown at the Frankfurt car show six months ago, and is set to be produced near the car maker’s German headquarters in Stuttgart.