The FIA has confirmed Porsche’s entry into the 2019 Formula E championship. Porsche’s Formula E debut will coincide with the launch of the production version of the Mission E: Stuttgart’s first all-electric sport car and part of the six billion Euros being invested into electric mobility up to the end of 2022.

Former head of the 919 project, Andreas Seidl, will be responsible for the technical development and the execution of the Formula E programme. “The possibilities and performance of electric cars have been a central topic at Porsche for quite a while,” says the Team Principal. “The deeper our engineers get into the topic, the more fascinating the solutions become. We can’t wait to receive our first vehicle in early 2019 and to test our own powertrain in it.”

Porsche unveiled the Mission E Cross Turismo at this year’s Geneva Motor Show: another take on the 800-volt Mission E Concept car blessed with 600 horsepower giving more than 500 kilometres of range. The production version may end up with slightly lower numbers, but it definitely won’t be cheap so it will need plenty of toys to show for the money. Four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering with the usual electronic driver aids should still take the four door, four-seater to sixty in 3.5 seconds, which will obviously keep people entertained.

The Gen2 Formula E car will also create some added entertainment compared to the current model, as drivers will finally be able to run a complete race without needing a car change in the middle of it. As a motorsport fan who pays no attention to Formula E, the upgrade is unlikely to have any impact on my perception of the series or of the brands taking part, but for those marketing the new Mission E to a generation that links E with excitement rather than lean-running eco superminis, the connections are excellent.