As you're well aware, Zuffenhausen's favorite son is putting the finishing touches on the mid-cycle refresh of its first all-electric vehicle. Believed to arrive in the summer of 2024 as a 2025 model, the facelifted Taycan served as inspiration for the latest rendering from the folks at PoloTo. It's not a professional one of those, though, for their take on the successor of the 718 sports car features two rather shiny tailpipes.
PoloTo's rendering artist was a bit more careful with the design of the headlights, which is obviously inspired by the 2025 Porsche Taycan. However, the very opposite applies to the rest of the front end. As well as the rear end and sides of the design study.
Heavily camouflaged prototypes of the 718 EV (or whatever it will be called) are gifted with evolutionary design cues akin to the most recently updated Porkers, including the Panamera for the front air intakes and centrally-positioned adaptive cruise control radar. Advertised as being a new generation of the Panamera, the 2024 model is better described as an extensive makeover of the second generation.
As opposed to the Volkswagen Group MSB platform-based liftback sedan, the 718-replacing sports car allegedly rides on the soon-to-debut Premium Platform Electric. Engineered by Porsche and Audi, the PPE has further been confirmed for the Macan EV, A6 e-tron, and the Q6 e-tron. Volkswagen Group brand Audi made it clear that the PPE has 2/3 assembling commonality with the MLB Evo architecture for internal combustion-engined vehicles.
Spied time and again with a rectangular exhaust finisher affixed to the rear bumper, the all-electric 718 flaunts a charging port out back. By comparison, the J1-based Taycan is rocking two charging port doors on the front fenders. Only the right-hand-side port can handle direct current for fast charging at up to 270 kW. The PPE, which will eventually replace the J1 of the Taycan and Audi e-tron GT, also promises 800V charging at no more than 270 kW.
Photo: SH Proshots
Given the 718's footprint, charging from 5 to 80 percent should take less than 25 minutes. Audi claims upwards of 700 kilometers of WLTP driving range, which is 435 miles in old money. Porsche quotes up to 511 kilometers for the Taycan, which is undoubtedly heavier than the zero-emission 718. 500 to 600 kilometers (311 to 373 miles) sounds doable in the 718 EV.
By the way, do you remember the 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance? An all-wheel-drive concept described as a test vehicle that envisages sustainable customer motor racing, said concept is based on the PPE. It rocks no fewer than 800 kW (1,088 ps or 1,073 hp) from two electric motors. One could only wish for a rear-drive version of the series-production 718 EV with something like 400 to 500 ponies under its belt.
On the other hand, this may be wishful thinking because Porsche's upcoming Macan EV has been confirmed with 450 kW (612 ps and 603 hp) in Turbo attire. The dual-motor specification further develops in excess of 1,000 Nm (737 pound-feet) of torque.
With Porsche expecting BEVs to account for 80 percent of the German marque's worldwide sales by 2030, it's only a matter of time until the Neunelfer will follow in the footsteps of the 718. But as opposed to any other Porsche in the lineup, the 911 will soldier on with internal combustion for as long as technically possible. If synthetic fuels become widely available at an affordable price, the 911 is likely to continue with six-cylinder boxer powertrains beyond 2035.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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