Porsche has revealed that the drivetrain of its Mission R concept racer is now being tested in a Cayman GT4, dubbed the ePerformance. Like the Mission R, the all-wheel-drive racer uses the chassis of the proven 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport model adapted to take the 800kW (peak output) electric drive.
Although the car will purely serve as a test mule and demonstrator, it hints at the potential electric future of GT racing, with an impressive 450kW available for a duration of 30 minutes and lap time potential similar to the current 992-gen GT3 Cup cars.
“With the Mission R, we’ve shown how Porsche envisages sustainable customer motor racing in the future. The 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance now demonstrates that this vision works impressively on the racetrack,” stated Matthias Scholz, GT racing vehicle project manager. “We’re very excited about the response because a one-make cup with electric racing cars would be an important addition to our existing customer racing program.”
Oil-cooled motors and battery
The drivetrain of the 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance is based on two permanently excited synchronous machines (PESM), one on each axle, which use direct oil cooling of the e-motors and battery pack. “The integration of oil cooling has significantly impacted the vehicle concept,” explained Björn Förster, GT4 ePerformance project manager. “With experts in the fields of aerodynamics and thermodynamics as well as high-voltage and bodywork specialists, the development team created an architecture to tap the full potential of the battery cells for the first time, since there is no thermal derating. In this way, the power output in racing mode remains constant for half an hour.” Thanks to 900V technology, the state of charge (SoC) of the battery can be taken from 5% to 80% in about 15 minutes.
Under the direction of designer Grant Larson, a team from Porsche Style came up with the shape of the 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance. The racing car is 14cm wider than a 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport and according to Porsche the car incorporates 6,000 parts that were designed from scratch, and the body is made of natural-fiber composite materials.
Debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance will make its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed from June 23-26, 2022. Two demo vehicles will then travel through various European countries before heading to North America in early 2023. The world tour concludes in the Asia-Pacific region, where the all-electric racing car will tour until mid-2024.
“The 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance blazes a trail to Porsche customer racing with electrically powered racing cars. As a first step, we will unveil this concept to our global partners,” commented Oliver Schwab, project manager of the 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance. “With drivers, teams, organizers, authorities and other interested parties, we’re also gathering ideas for Porsche racing formats in the future.”
