New Porsche Mission R Is A 1,073 HP Electric Racing Car That Hints At Future Cayman

We’ve updated this story with live images of Porsche’s impressive electric concept race car from the Munich Motor Show.

Porsche used the Munich Motor Show to give us a glimpse into the electric future of its racing cars with a coupe that also hints at the next generation of road cars.

The Cayman-shaped Mission R is a twin-motor, all-wheel drive coupe designed for customer racing teams who might currently compete in one of Porsche’s many one-make series championships around the world.

Read: 2021 Munich Motor Show A-Z Debut Roundup

It serves up 1,073 hp (1,088 PS) in qualifying trim and 626 hp in race tune thanks to a 429 hp front motor and 626 hp rear motor, both featuring oil cooling to prevent power drop-off. Zero to 60mph takes 2.5 seconds, and at full noise (while presumably making very little) on a long enough straight, the Mission R can reach 186 mph (300km/h).

Also designed with racing in mind, the battery (again, oil-cooled) is designed to last for 30 mins, potentially allowing it to complete an entire sprint race, while 900-volt technology means it can be charged from 5-80 per cent in 15 minutes.

But Porsche’s design boss made clear that there’s more going on here than simply the reveal of a new racing car. That much is hinted at by the design of the headlights, which are clearly inspired by the Boxster that was released exactly 25 years ago.

Live photo credits Stefan Baldauf / Guido ten Brink for CarScoops

Our customer [motor]sports vehicles are always based on production sports cars,” said Michael Mauer, Porsche’s design boss. “What this means in the case of the Mission R is that the car is packed to the gills with signs that hint of a future production model,” he added.

Strip away the giant rear wing, which incorporates drag-reduction technology for the best between corners, evil-looking rear diffuser and pavement-scraping front splitter and it’s not difficult to see how the Mission R could become the next 718 Boxster and Cayman duo.

And based on the four years it took Porsche to transform the 2015 Mission-E concept into 2019’s Taycan production car, we can probably expect to see something derived from the Mission R in showrooms by 2025.

As with BMW’s i Vision Circular concept revealed on the same day, the Mission E’s eco philosophy goes beyond simply running on electric power. Its bodywork is made from plastics infused with natural, renewable fibers, and the upholstery is created using a computer-controlled 3D knitting process that minimises fabric waste.

Drivers sit beneath a Y-shaped roof member that’s part of the car’s carbon exoskeleton, and control the car using a butterfly-style steering wheel with a digital display at its center, beyond which is mounted a second digital instrument display.

Porsche says the Mission R fuses e-sports with real life racing because the central carbon moncell is designed as a self contained unit, meaning drivers could theoretically work on their racing lines in a simulator that accurately mimics the competition car’s environment. That sounds like an interesting concept, but given the chance to choose between a go in virtual and real Mission Rs, we know which one we’d take.