Porsche Pajun: German carmaker plans all-electric saloon

Porsche is working on a new all-electric executive saloon in a bid to take on BMW's 5 series, reports say.

The company's "radical plans" for electrified cars have been gradually drip fed by Porsche's parent company, the Volkswagen Group, AutoCar reports.

The new Porsche executive saloon will be known as the Pajun (short for Panamera Junior), and will come in both all electric and hydrogen fuel cell editions. At 420bhp, the battery-powered version is expected to match the power of Tesla's line of electric cars.

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AutoCar suggests that the battery electric version of the car will likely be called the Porsche 718 and the fuel cell edition will be the 818.

In a number of patents seen by the car magazine, the new electric Porsche has its powertrain situated at the rear of the vehicle. Similar to the Audi R8 e-tron, the car will have two motors – one on each wheel, the patents reveal.

The patent describes the system as a "hollow portal axle... that accommodates two electric motors [with a] separate connection from the wheel to the step gear [which] allows the wheel to be mounted in a non-rigid manner".

The Pajun will take on rivals including existing four-doors such as the BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 and Mercedes E-Class.

Porsche is also thought to be developing an induction charging system that will allow its electric vehicles to be recharged without being plugged in – similar to how many modern smartphones and smartwatches are charged.

The Porsche Pajun comes as "the latest in a series of environmental concessions made by the company", Autoblog says. Porsche has also created electric hybrid versions of both its Panamera and Cayenne models and has been at the forefront of hybrid supercar development with its 918 Spyder, the site notes.

The Pajun is expected to reach the market in late 2017 or early 2018.