Porsche showed the world the higher performance versions of its 4-door electric sedan recently, and the natural comparison for everyone to draw is with Tesla's Model S. Elon Musk certainly sees the comparison as, despite the Model S measuring up better in range, price, and initial acceleration, he immediately put the Model S on Porsche's regular stomping ground, the Nurburgring.

The Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S comparison isn't one that Porsche boss, Oliver Blume, is keen on though. "I prefer to compare Porsche with Porsche. We will always be a bit cooler, Blume told the German publication Auto Motor und Sport (and translated from German): "Anyway, I think that the term 'cool' fits Porsche - cool, but also sympathetic."

When asked if Porsche deliberately positioned the Taycan against the Model S, Blume said: "No, Model S was not so conscious when we started the Taycan project four years ago. Our car is very different. We are the company that makes the 911. A Taycan has to drive as sporty as a 911."

People will quickly point out that Porsche benchmarked against the Tesla Model S, but that was unlikely in terms of overall performance. After all, Porsche has all the vehicles it needs to benchmark performance from in its current lineup. It's also unlikely Porsche was benchmarking build quality either because it's only the drivetrain and range where Tesla shines over any other company.

While Musk immediately mocked Porsche for using the Turbo trim designation on an electric car, Blume is a little more magnanimous when he talks about the Nurburgring, Tesla, and Musk in particular.

"It's a bit of a crazy story going through the net right now. The Taycan arouses interest everywhere. But seriously, I have great respect for what Tesla founder Elon Musk has done. He has helped electromobility to a great extent with innovations. We at Porsche are athletes who come from the race track, and appreciate each competition."

Blume was also quizzed about possible plans to make the 911 all-electric. Traditionalists can breathe a half-sigh of relief there:

"Electrically I do not see the 911, because he is simply not designed for it," Blume said, "The 911 is the icon of the Porsche brand and a constant in the product range. It will be traveling for a long time with an internal combustion engine. But we designed the platform so we could put a hybrid [drivetrain] in it. We are still waiting [for the] evolutionary stage with the batteries, and then a 911 Hybrid will be an absolute spearhead. The system can be as sporty as we did with the 919 Hybrid."