Apple, Amazon, Google: When the Piëch GT prototype is unveiled, we think of start-ups whose success story began in a garage. If the plans of the Zurich start-up Piëch Automotive lead to a series-production e-sports car, one can then say in retrospect: It all began in the old bunker number 13.
Well, almost: by the time the company’s own technology quarter is in place, the chief developer Klaus Schmidt (65, previously BMW M) and around 200 engineers from the automotive suppliers who were involved in the project have rented a room in the development center of the supplier industry at Memmingen Airport (D). Schmidt and the small Zurich Piëch core team of a good two dozen people unveil the GT in Fliegerbunker 13 next door.
From dream to prototype
Against all prophecies of doom, the study unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2019 – then called Piëch Mark Zero – and thus the dream of Piëch CEO Toni Piëch (47) and designer Rea Stark Rajčić (38), brought it a big step further: Hardly a car -Start-up always makes it to the prototype. An estimated 400 to 500 million Swiss francs had to and must first be collected from investors. Not possible? We thought of Tesla too.
Three questions for Toni Piëch
Anton “Toni” Piëch (47), the Swiss son of VW patriarch Ferdinand Piëch (1937–2019), is co-founder and CEO of Zurich-based Piëch Automotive AG.
SonntagsBlick: Mr. Piëch, in retrospect, what do you say to those who had doubted that your project would ever get to the prototype stage?
Toni Piëch: That they had rightly doubted. Anyone can make promises, and there are entire cemeteries of unfulfilled promises. Starting a car company is anything but trivial! We knew that we had to deliver before we were believed. Now we have delivered the GT: it drives, it charges and it looks good.
You are Swiss. How important is Switzerland for Piëch as a brand?
I cannot underline enough how important Switzerland is to us. Switzerland is our showroom, our home stadium, our home. We are proud to be a Swiss brand and to show a version of Switzerland that has a great future because something like this is possible. An open, innovative Switzerland!
They want to build the GT in Europe and even move battery production from China to Europe until series production is ready. Why?
Europe has always been our focus. And in the special case of batteries, in view of the corona-related disruption of the supply chains, we used the time to increase supply chain stability by finding a solution in Europe. It works very well, and shorter distances make everything a lot easier.
Interview in the development center Memmingen (D): CEO Toni Piëch (left) in conversation with author Timothy Pfannkuchen.
Piëch Automotive
Anton “Toni” Piëch (47), the Swiss son of VW patriarch Ferdinand Piëch (1937–2019), is co-founder and CEO of Zurich-based Piëch Automotive AG.
SonntagsBlick: Mr. Piëch, in retrospect, what do you say to those who had doubted that your project would ever get to the prototype stage?
Toni Piëch: That they had rightly doubted. Anyone can make promises, and there are entire cemeteries of unfulfilled promises. Starting a car company is anything but trivial! We knew that we had to deliver before we were believed. Now we have delivered the GT: it drives, it charges and it looks good.
You are Swiss. How important is Switzerland for Piëch as a brand?
I cannot underline enough how important Switzerland is to us. Switzerland is our showroom, our home stadium, our home. We are proud to be a Swiss brand and to show a version of Switzerland that has a great future because something like this is possible. An open, innovative Switzerland!
They want to build the GT in Europe and even move battery production from China to Europe until series production is ready. Why?
Europe has always been our focus. And in the special case of batteries, in view of the corona-related disruption of the supply chains, we used the time to increase supply chain stability by finding a solution in Europe. It works very well, and shorter distances make everything a lot easier.
According to Piëch, negotiations are currently underway with possible manufacturers of his vehicle. Names are secret, but you can assume players like Magna or Valmet. In two years’ time, the Piëch GT with a range of 500 kilometers should start at around 200,000 euros (approx. 215,000 Swiss francs). During our first ride in the prototype (more on this here) Schmidt chauffeured us with verve that we could not only imagine 612 PS (450 kW) from three electric motors. But after many discussions on site, also that the paper tiger from the Geneva Salon will become a real electrical dream.
Not even Porsche can do that
Compared to the Piëch Mark Zero design study shown two and a half years ago, the Piëch GT has hardly changed, but has been sharpened in detail. The modular structure and the low weight of 1.8 tons stand out in the all-wheel drive technology. The Piëch GT owes this to the battery, which, in addition to being light, should be extremely easy to charge. During the demonstration, the Piëch GT with over 450 kW sucks itself from 20 to 80 percent in less than five minutes on Piëch’s own charger. Even «normal» fast chargers should have 350 kW. Not even a Porsche Taycan can do that at the moment. There is now high tension in the air.
Can you actually pre-order the GT if you stumble into the Piëch showroom in Zurich as a spontaneous millionaire? “We keep a very long pencil list of people who have come to us with the question,” says Toni Piëch and adds: “There will be an official waiting list relatively soon.”