Porsche Putting Mission E Into Production To Challenge Tesla

Porsche is stepping up to Elon Musk in the electric car game, announcing Friday that it will start building its own electric sedan.

The German automaker said that it will put $1 billion into producing the Mission E, the fully electric concept that it unveiled back in September, according to WIRED.

While it has yet to be revealed how big the car's battery will be, it has been revealed to be able to produce over 600 horsepower. The Mission E seats four people, can travel from 0 to 62 mph in under 3.5 seconds and will go 310 miles on a single charge.

Porsche said that the battery will be built into the floor of the car and will only take 15 minutes to charge to 80 percent, USA Today reported. The company intends to make the Mission E available to customers by the end of the decade.

Oliver Blume, chairman of Porsche's executive board, said in a statement that introducing an all-electric vehicle into the Porsche lineup will be the "beginning of a new chapter in the history of the sports cars."

While the Mission E will be Porsche's first fully electric vehicle, it won't be the company's only environmentally friendly vehicle, as others include the plug-in hybrids versions of the Panamera and Cayenne, as well as the gas-electric 918 Spider supercar and the 919 Hybrid, WIRED noted.

Tesla's Model S P90D provides more power and a faster acceleration time than the Mission E, but the later has a greater range, as a single charge will allow the P90D to travel 286 miles. The Mission E will also be able to charge to 80 percent in half the time that Tesla's luxury vehicle can.

Porsche's announcement follows a year after Musk, CEO of Tesla, opened the automaker's patents so that other company's would join the electric car market, according to USA Today.

Tesla will also have to worry about more than Porsche, as other companies that are stepping up include Audi's e-tron quattro electric crossover, Aston Martin's electric Rapide model, and General Motors' Chevrolet Bolt plug-in hybrid.