Scooped: What Prototype is Porsche testing in winter?

We have seen this weird Porsche prototype before last year. At first we thought this half Macan, half Panamera prototype was a test mule for a smaller version of the Panamera four-door coupe, a new model aimed at the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe and Audi A5 Sportback.

But as it turns out, it wasn’t even close to what we thought it was. According to our sources, within this jacked-up prototype lies the framework for the first ever volume production all-electric Porsche model. The raised height creates the necessary space for – you guessed it – batteries. Banks and banks of them.

In its previous public outing during the warmer months of last year, Porsche was actually testing the durability of the batteries in warm weather. This time around however, it’s cold weather testing.

Porsche has been toying about an all-electric model for a while now, having invested 700 million euros in new facilities and new jobs to develop the technology that will go into the brand’s next generation of full electric cars. It has also released the study concept Mission E in 2015.

And it isn’t surprising, given the new threat posed by up and raising EV-only manufacturers such as Tesla, Faraday Future and Lucid. Its traditional rivals of Jaguar, BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz are also working fast on bringing full EV to market.

According to speculation, the new Porsche electric drivetrain will find its way into a production model as early as 2020. And it will be no slouch. Expect o-100km/h in less than 3.5 seconds with an emission-free range of up to 500km.