First Audi/Porsche developed EVs coming in 2021

The first cars riding Porsche and Audi's joint electric PPE platform are set to arrive in 2021.

The platform will serve as a base for all-electric offerings and will serve as a low-cost development tool for future cars from both brands.

Porsche's range of all-electric cars was first previewed with Porsche's Mission E concept. Meanwhile Audi's first all-electric car, the e-tron SUV will arrive later this year. Both will ride on independent platforms – the J1 platform for the Porsche, and the C-BEV for the Audi; but as electric cars become more commonplace, with full ranges of EVs planned for 2021, a joint platform for both brands will become a necessity.

The PPE platform will be flexible enough to work for both high-riding models, and more traditional cars in multiple segments. It's expected to offer similar performance to Porsche's current-generation J1 platform, which will give it a range of over 300 miles, with its 800 volt charging system able to reach 80 percent capacity in 15 minutes of charging time.

Currently 550 engineers from Audi and 300 from Porsche are working on the project, and the hope is that by both brands pooling their efforts, they will be able to make future electric cars hit the market faster and at a significantly lower cost.

'If we had to tackle the challenges ahead on our own, the costs would be around 30 percent higher,' said Porsche CEO Oliver Blume.

This won't be the only platform both brands will use though. Porsche are expected to develop its own for electric sports cars, dubbed the SPE (Sports Platform Electric) which is expected to be introduced around 2025, while Audi will use Volkswagen's MEB (Modular Electric Toolkit) for their smaller cars.