In May 1941, the Wehrmacht approached Henschel and Porsche to submit a design for a new heavy tank with a minimum weight of 45 tons and capable of mounting the 88 mm KwK L/56 cannon. The Porsche company chose to adapt the pre-existing VK 30.01 prototype heavy tank design into the improved version, designated VK 45.01 (P). Like most Porsche-designed tanks, the VK 45.01 (P) features an electric transmission that allows the tank to travel forwards and in reverse at the same speed. Porsche was so confident in the design that they pre-emptively produced 10 tanks and 90 chassis in anticipation that the design would be accepted for production. However, the Henschel design, later known as the Tiger I, was accepted instead. This was partly due to the Porsche design requiring a significant amount of copper for its drive system, a scarce resource which the Wehrmacht chose to ration for other production. Out of the 10 tanks built, one was converted into a command vehicle, while the rest were cannibalised for spare parts for the 90 Ferdinand tank destroyers that were built from the remaining chassis.

The VK 45.01 (P) was introduced as one of the rewards for the 2015 "War Thunder Fulfills Your Wishes!" event. The "Porsche Tiger" is quite similar to its "Henschel" counterpart, the Tiger H1. It has the same amount of armour and the same powerful gun as the Tiger. While it is noticeably slower than the "normal" Tiger in terms of top speed, the Porsche Tiger's electric transmission is capable of reaching high reverse speeds. This allows the Porsche Tiger to retreat or reposition quickly and react to incoming fire more effectively. The main weakness of the Porsche Tiger is some noticeable weak spots at the front, most notably the weak hull cheeks that prevent it from angling the hull effectively.