How an exclusive Porsche for Gran Turismo might give a glimpse into the future
A new Porsche rolls onto the streets and is in action around the world without ever having been on an assembly belt. The Porsche Vision Gran Turismo is only available digitally as part of Gran Turismo 7. A look into the future of vehicle development.

How do you bring life to a virtual vehicle? Gran Turismo is famous for offering the most realistic digital driving experience possible. The video game series debuted in 1997 and is developed by Polyphony Digital, a division of Sony Interactive Entertainment. The studio has perfected what makes digital vehicles come alive: lifelike graphics, attention to detail, and authentic physics.

Since 2017, sports cars from Porsche have been part of the game, for example, the Taycan Turbo S, the classic Porsche 356 A 1500 GT Carrera Speedster, or the Porsche 917 Living Legend. However, the Vision Gran Turismo is the first car that cannot be driven on real roads.

How video games shape the automotive world
Just as real-world race cars influence how road vehicles evolve, so do video games affect the automotive world. This is what the president of Polyphony, Kazunori Yamauchi, says: “The kids who discovered their fascination for extraordinary cars in Gran Turismo 25 years ago are now adults. They work in the automotive industry or, as consumers, determine the success of new models. So, our game has also helped to shape the automotive world of today.”

The Porsche Vision Gran Turismo is designed with the aim to excite new generations and perhaps inspire future engineers and software developers.

Creating a realistic sports car exclusively for a videogame
Developing vehicles for video games offers many advantages. Because the laws and restrictions of reality do not apply here. Nevertheless, Porsche wanted to develop a vehicle that is as realistic as possible. The result is a compact, performance-oriented vehicle with optimum power-to-weight ratio and an agile chassis.

Since weight, performance, aerodynamics, suspension, and transmission should feel as real as possible, the virtual prototype was developed in Weissach in the same way as a real Porsche sports car. Only the behavior of the car in different weather conditions is ultimately decided by the developers at Polyphony Digital.

The design language of a near future
From all sides, the Porsche Vision Gran Turismo is a futuristic eye-catcher. From the rear, silver letters and an illuminated strip dominate the view. A large glass dome that can be folded upwards as a whole, like a jet, promises exciting design developments for the near future.

Looking at the vehicle from the front, however, the brand’s tradition is apparent. The pronounced fenders, low-set front hood and sporty height-to-width ratio make it clear: this is a classic yet alluring Porsche, with design elements that reference models like the Taycan or 911. Inside, moreover, there is no classic dashboard, but a glass panel that serves as a projection screen. Like holograms, the driving data floats in the driver’s field of vision. This creates visuals that make players curious about the real vehicles. Porsche is known for authentic and emotional experiences, while video games are able to mediate between automotive dreams and reality.

“A vehicle designed purely for the virtual world opens up exciting possibilities for us that are otherwise heavily regimented in a regular design process for a series production car,” says Michael Maurer. “Projects such as the Porsche Vision Gran Turismo are particularly valuable for us in the creative process. Further developing our clearly defined Porsche Design DNA and exchanging with designers from other industries is an important part of our work.”

Diving into the world of video games may lead Porsche to making a great leap forward. Video games make vehicles interactive and accessible, allowing them to create an approachable brand experience. And: automotive dreams are born in games. For many players, Gran Turismo is their first point of contact with Porsche and starts a lifelong fascination for sportscars. The first exclusive vehicle for a video game is therefore the next logical step for Porsche. The Porsche Vision Gran Turismo is available exclusively in Gran Turismo 7, which was released on 4 March 2022 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

Amazon says it will begin delivering parcels to shoppers by drone for the first time later this year, pending final regulatory approval.

Users in the Californian town of Lockeford will be able to sign up to have thousands of goods delivered by air to their homes, it said.

The shopping giant has promised drone delivery for years but has faced delays and reported setbacks.

But it said it planned to roll out the service more widely after Lockeford.

Amazon said the drones will be programmed to drop parcels in the backyards of customers in Lockeford, which has a population of about 4,000 people.

They will be able to fly "beyond-line-of-sight", meaning they don't have to be controlled by a visual observer and instead use sensors to avoid other aircraft, people, pets and obstacles.

The aim is to get packages to customers safely in less than an hour, the retailer said.

'Within months'
In the past, Amazon has been accused of using the promise of drone delivery as a headline-grabber to push its publicity around its Prime membership service.

In 2013, former boss and founder Jeff Bezos pledged to fill the skies with a fleet of delivery drones within five years. And in 2019, Amazon said it would be delivering by drone to customers "within months".

In December 2016, the company ran an apparently successful trial in Cambridge, UK. A package was delivered, by drone, in 13 minutes.

Since then it has trialled drone delivery partnerships with the US retailer Walmart and the courier firms FedEx and UPS.

Explaining how Prime Air deliveries would work, Amazon said: "Once onboarded, customers in Lockeford will see Prime Air-eligible items on Amazon. They will place an order as they normally would and receive an estimated arrival time with a status tracker for their order.

"For these deliveries, the drone will fly to the designated delivery location, descend to the customer's backyard, and hover at a safe height. It will then safely release the package and rise back up to altitude."

Ferrari’s Maranello complex in northern Italy is a pretty cool place. There’s a space ship-looking wind tunnel designed by Renzo Piano, you can hop into a Formula One racing simulator, and a short stroll from the main factory, there’s a mouth-watering museum filled with shiny supercars like the 1990s F50. Now Ferrari is overhauling the site to make battery-powered cars.

Just a few hours ago in Maranello, CEO Benedetto Vigna presented his long-awaited strategy on how to electrify the brand synonymous with prancing horses. Ferrari will invest some 4.4 billion euros ($4.6 billion) to develop fully electric and plug-in hybrid models that will make up 60% of its portfolio by 2026. The company will retool Maranello to produce EVs and assemble battery modules — confirming a plan my colleagues Daniele Lepido and Chiara Remondini first reported last week. The first fully electric Ferrari will hit showrooms in three years.

The problem is that the Italian company is a tad late to the party, leaving it well behind not just battery pioneer Tesla but also Porsche and smaller upstarts like Rimac Automobili. Porsche’s popular Taycan EV has been on the road since 2019 and outsold the iconic 911 last year.

Vigna is now eager to catch up. The 53-year-old industry outsider — he joined from chipmaker STMicroelectronics last year — has rejiggered several divisions including product development to report directly to him to streamline decision-making. He’s also hired trusted tech executives from his former employer, and partnered with chipmaker Qualcomm to work on more digital car cockpits.

Key for Ferrari will be that its electric cars evoke the same kind of passion as its roaring combustion-engine peers have done for decades. The nature of electric drivetrains means that even sedans like Tesla’s Model S come with race car-like acceleration, so Ferrari may well lose some of its gasoline-era performance edge.

Ferrari tried to dispel those concerns today, saying its EVs will leverage the company’s racing know-how to ensure they stand out when it comes to “engine power density, weight, sound and driving emotions.”

Aside from ensuring that drivers remain thrilled, Ferrari also has to please shareholders. While the company continues to command enviable profit margins, the stock has underperformed recently, in part due to investor concern about the costs associated with catching on electric technology.

Ferrari vowed its EV investments won’t come at the expensive of profitability. The company sees adjusted EBITDA of as much as 2.7 billion euros in 2026, up from around 1.5 billion euros last year, and targets a compounded annual growth rate of 9%.

Part of that profit gain will be driven by the company’s supercars that will remain in that period, to a large degree, gasoline-fueled. That includes the Purosangue SUV to be unveiled in September. Ferrari has been “overwhelmed” by the early demand for the model, according to sales head Enrico Galliera.

And Ferrari executives said they’ll remain mindful of keeping the exclusive cachet of the brand — that applies to the Purosangue as well as the company’s future battery-powered models.

“Ferrari will always deliver one car less than the market demands,” Vigna said, evoking the famous motto of company founder Enzo Ferrari.