Porsche’s decision to make the next-generation 718 Boxster and Cayman electric has been met with some pushback from purists who are wary of change. While the German automaker hasn’t completely shut the door on ice-powered versions of the next-generation sports cars, it insists it is making the right call by going electric. No formal announcement has been made for a gas-powered 718 replacement to serve as a companion to the very-much-confirmed electric car.
Porsche’s vice president in charge of the 911 and 718 programs, Frank Moser, said that the automaker is working on the EV, and it is “going to be a very great car,” according to Australia’s CarSales magazine. It’s expected that the 718 will make use of the same platform as the production version of the Audi Concept C we first saw a few weeks ago. Here’s more of what Moser told CarSales:
“We decided to go the electric way on the 718 and there we are working on it and I think it’s not really the wrong decision.
“You could be aware this car is going to be really, really brilliant because it’s light, powerful and that’s a combination for a two-door sports car, believe me.”
I obviously have not driven the electric 718 just yet, but given how good Porsche is at making all of its other vehicles drive well, I have very little doubt in my mind that those cars won’t feel brilliant to drive as well.
In case of emergency, add gas
As we all know, the EV industry is in a weird spot right now. Because of that, Porsche might end up hedging its EV-only bets on the 718 with a gas-powered companion. It would be a similar move to what it has done with the electric Macan. It has kept the previous generation of gas-powered Mac around far past its expiration date and is readying a new version of the car to satiate Porsche crossover buyers who want to burn gas for whatever reason. That new ICE Macan is expected sometime in 2028, according to CarSales.
For the time being, Porsche doesn’t seem too keen on talking about what a next-generation ICE 718 would look like — choosing instead to focus on the electric 718 it has coming down the pipeline. To me, this makes a lot of sense. Overall, Porsche is a rather forward-looking company, and it has wanted to leave most of its gas-powered offerings behind at this point. Unfortunately, its pesky buyers haven’t gotten the memo yet.
h/t: Motor1
