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Porsche Deputy Chairman Believes 718 Series Could Go Electric

The 718 series is considered the fourth generation of the Boxster and Cayman, codenamed 982 as per the Porsche nomenclature. Customers are treated to 2.0- and 2.5-liter boxer turbo four-cylinder engines since 2016 and a naturally aspirated option displacing 4.0 liters in the 718 Cayman GT4.
Porsche 718 series 17 photos
Photo: Porsche
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Even the purists are catered with a good ol’ manual transmission, but Porsche’s deputy chairman believes that the times are a-changin’. “In the sports car segment we have to think about a pure electric car,” he told Auto Express, claiming that the 911 would be too hard to electrify to such an extent.

“But for the 718 I think that it would be a very good step for the future and it would be on a completely new platform that we can discuss and share with other brands,”
he concluded. That comes as a bold statement given how conservative Porsche used to be not that long ago, and we’re all ears in this regard.

Crossovers, SUVs, and the Panamera are outselling the brand’s sports cars but Porsche also knows the 911 and 718 have to carry the torch forward. Switching from internal combustion to pure electric in the case of the Neunelfer would be sacrilege in the eyes of enthusiasts, don’t you think so?

This is probably the reason the 718 makes more sense, more so if you remember the 911 will spawn mild hybrid and hybrid derivatives. The e-architecture of the 992 series has been developed specifically for these fuel-saving solutions, and knowing Porsche, there’s some added performance in there too.

Moving back to the subject of this story, nothing is official yet according to chief executive officer Oliver Blume. “Different battery concepts” and “body styles” are currently tested within Porsche, which is why the next generation of the 718 still is “in the concept period.” Blume claims a decision will be made within the next 12 months, and we’re willing to bet a tenner in regard to the conclusion.

Did you hear that the Macan is going electric thanks to the Premium Platform Electric? Maybe the PPE will be scaled down to fit the footprint of the 718 as well…
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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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.
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