Monday, March 18, 2024

Porsche reveals six-seat interior of its Vision Renndienst electric minivan

Originally, Porsche had already introduced its Vision Renndienst electric van concept to the world in November 2020. Now they finally released the photos of the interior of the model.

The silky-smooth Renndienst is a modernized electric take on a classic VW T1 Porsche factory race team service van. The minivan can carry up to six people, but the seating arrangement is different from what you would expect.

Porsche reveals the interior of the Vision Renndienst electric minivan.
The driver gets a central seating position in front. Credit: Porsche

As you can see from the photos, the driver gets a central seating position in front and looks out of a windshield that curves around the pilot. There is a digital instrument cluster, but it shows five round gauges in a nod to Porsches of the past. Haptic buttons can be found on both sides of the dashboard. The driver’s seat can also be rotated 180 degrees, so the pilot can easily communicate with the passengers.

The second-row passengers each get their own chair. The seats are offset a bit to the right and left to allow you the best possible view through the window to the outside. This design has the additional advantage that there is more space in the center, which in turn makes it easier to get into the third row at the very back.

Porsche reveals the interior of the Vision Renndienst electric minivan.
The minivan can carry up to six people, but the seating arrangement is different from what you would expect. Credit: Porsche

The asymmetrical window layout means that the person on the left can only see outside through a tiny sliver of glass to the side. The passenger sitting on the right has an expansive window to see out of. The third row of seats is a bench. Porsche installs “floating” headrests so that the driver can still see out of the rear window when no one is sitting back there.

We thought about how we could still give a distinctly Porsche flair to a passenger compartment that is so far removed from the classic sports-car interior. And how autonomous driving could be designed,” says Porsche chief designer Michael Mauer.

Porsche has no intention of turning the Vision Renndienst electric van concept into a production vehicle. It’s just a design exercise to show what can be done. The sports car manufacturer calls the model “a vision of the day after tomorrow.”