Porsche said it would end production of its gas-powered Cayman and Boxster last year as it planned to make all-electric versions of the (relatively) affordable 718 cars, part of an ongoing evolution of the brand that started with the Taycan. Then Porsche said it wouldn’t end production of gas-powered 718s, and, now, the all-electric 718 cars may not be happening either, according to a new report.
The primary concern is costs, according to Bloomberg, along with weakened demand in China. There are also “developmental delays,” which may lead Porsche CEO Michael Leiters to decide to “scrap” the cars altogether.
Porsche is simultaneously planning hybrid versions of the 718, which requires more money because the architecture of hybrid cars is fundamentally different from that of all-electric cars. Porsche also, apparently, can’t do both, and focusing on hybrid 718s means more delays for all-electric 718s, according to Bloomberg.
Porsche not making an all-electric 718 would be a shame in more ways than one, though you get the feeling that this will likely be more of a pause than an outright cancellation, since, long-term, the future of consumer car propulsion is still trending toward all-electric. Electric cars are cleaner, quicker, and getting ever cheaper. Regulators are increasingly demanding them as well.
2023 Porsche 718
Porsche
Porsche was an early pioneer with the Taycan, making an EV in a time when Tesla still dominated and making an EV that has since been recognized as one of the very best. The all-electric Boxster and Cayman might be considered that, too, someday, though for now it looks like that day is a lot further into the future.
Ominously, Bloomberg notes that Leiters has preferred hybrids in previous jobs, and as demand has weakened, automakers have also defaulted toward going more hybrid. So have consumers, rewarding automakers like Toyota, which never went all-in on all-electric and insisted hybrids were the short-term future, and hurting automakers like Porsche and Ford, which both made bigger bets on all-electric. Still, hybrid cars are a compromise that no one seems to like except automotive executives and some consumers; automotive engineers think they’re too complicated and not worth the payoff, in addition to being heavy and adding cost.
No final decision on whether to get rid of the all-electric 718s has been made, according to Bloomberg, though even if the company does decide not to go all-electric with the 718, there’s nothing stopping it from reversing itself just as quickly in the future.
Authors
Erik Shilling
Erik Shilling is digital auto editor at Robb Report. Before joining the magazine, he was an editor at Jalopnik, Atlas Obscura, and the New York Post, and a staff writer at several newspapers before…
