This Swiss EV startup will be led by a bunch of former Tesla, BMW, Porsche, and Volkswagen bosses
- Piëch Automotive is a Swiss EV sports car startup that’s headed up by ex-BMW, Tesla, Porsche, and Volkswagen employees.
- Matthias Müller is the newly appointed chairman, formerly of Porsche and Volkswagen after the diesel scandal fallout. He was ousted from the company in 2018.
- The Piëch GT2 is an all-electric two-seater sports car that boasts an estimated range of up to 310 miles.
Normally, news about leadership at yet another EV sports car startup would just get lost in the shuffle, but this one might pique your interest. Piëch Automotive, a Swiss sports-car company headed up by a bunch of men from Tesla, BMW, Porsche, and Volkswagen, just added Matthias Müller to its leadership team.
If Müller's name sounds familiar, it's because he was Martin Winterkorn's replacement as CEO of Volkswagen after the former stepped down in the wake of the diesel cheating scandal. Müller was the CEO of Porsche at the time.
Three years later, in 2018, Volkswagen voted to oust Müller and replaced him instead with Dr. Herbert Diess, formerly of BMW.
Now, Piëch Automotive announced that Müller is its newly appointed chairman. The company has completed its first round of funding with the help of investor Peter Thiel. The next round of funding will include amassing enough capital needed to launch a production car.
The company said that the design for the Piëch GT2, its all-electric sports car, has been "finalized." The GT2 is apparently highly flexible, where various body styles and drive types can be implemented.
The car represents the first of three planned concepts, the company said. It's a two-seater and can have a range of 400 kilometers, or about 250 miles, to 500 kilometers, or about 310 miles. These are estimates based on European WLTP standards.
The car will regain 80% of its battery capacity after just four minutes and 40 seconds of charging, the company continued. Additional estimates quote a sub-three-second time to get from 0 to 62 mph.
At a launch event at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show, Piëch Automotive also showed off its Mark Zero EV concept coupe.
Piëch Automotive was founded a few years ago by Rea Stark, who serves as its current creative director and has experience with Sony, LG, and Samsung, and Toni Piëch, a current board member and a son of Ferdinand Piëch.
Ferdinand Piëch once headed up the Volkswagen Group. He was responsible for turning the company into the giant conglomerate it is today. Under him, Volkswagen Group acquired Lamborghini, Bentley, and Bugatti.
In addition to Müller, Piëch, and Stark, the company's other leadership members include Klaus Schmidt from BMW, Andreas Henke from Porsche, and Jochen Rudat from Tesla.