Porsche has pulled the wraps off of its longer-range business plan and unlike Tesla’s four-hour filibuster earlier this month, it the plan involved a bunch of announcements on products like an electric Cayenne, plus it defined business plans that should make a ton of money. Without further ado, here’s what Porsche has planned in the coming seven years or so.
Three Electric SUVs Are On The Way
We all knew that Porsche would make an electric Macan, and Porsche re-iterated that the electric Macan is coming in 2024. We also knew that Porsche is working on a massive new electric SUV and Porsche has provided some details on that. Not only will it be positioned above the Cayenne, it’ll ride on Porsche’s upcoming SSP Sport platform. What’s more, it’ll have a next-generation interior that Porsche claims will offer “a completely new experience inside the vehicle.” Key markets for this flagship include China and the United State of America.
However, it turns out that an electric Cayenne is coming sooner than we might expect. Porsche claims that the fourth-generation Cayenne will “underline Porsche’s goal of delivering more than 80 per cent of its new vehicles as all-electric models in 2030.” Figure seven years or less until we see the EV Cayenne, so if you want a combustion-powered one as a tow rig, you might want to adjust your timeline.
The Next 718 Will Be Electric For A While
In a few years, Porsche will pull the wraps off of its most ambitious electric model yet. The small 718 sports car is going battery-power-only for the next generation, which is expected to arrive in the next few years. However, it might not be powered solely by batteries forever. Porsche claims that “In the medium term, it will only be available as an electric model.” So that’s the medium term but what about the long one?
Sure, it could be possible that the next 718 will receive a combustion engine option running on e-fuels at some point, but it’s also possible that you could be killed by a cow. Porsche could eventually once again shoehorn a flat-six into its smaller sports cars, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. It’s equally possible that Porsche fits a hydrogen generator to augment the batteries, or that a lightweight model will come without floors and force owners to Fred Flintstone it. Yabba dabba doo!
What Does ‘Carbon-Neutral’ Mean To Porsche?
While EVs can be dirty to produce, it typically doesn’t take long for them to break even with combustion-powered equivalents on a well-to-wheel basis. However, Porsche has a bold claim that its EVs will go far beyond the point of breaking even.
Within the scope of its strategy, the company is working towards a net carbon neutral value chain for its vehicles in 2030. This also includes a net carbon-neutral use phase for future BEV models (based on an assumed total mileage of 200,000 kilometres per vehicle).
Carbon neutral means that the amount of carbon emitted into the air is equal to the amount of carbon emissions removed by a given entity. As such, Porsche’s e-fuels are carbon-neutral in that the process of making them scrubs carbon from the air and processes it using wind power. Sure, burning the resulting fuel emits CO2, but it’s not spewing out any carbon dioxide that wasn’t in the air in the first place.
Similarly, the use phase of an electric car is only carbon-neutral if the electricity used is generated in a carbon-neutral way. Wind, solar, and hydroelectric power are all clear. Natural gas is no bueno. Unfortunately, electricity sources aren’t Porsche’s domain, so the use of electric vehicles won’t be carbon neutral in all jurisdictions unless governments put an end to fossil fuel-based electricity generation or scrub as much carbon from the air as fossil fuel power plants put out. Maybe the value chain is carbon-negative and will offset use emissions of the EVs? Even then, what energy mix model is Porsche using? Needless to say, we’ve reached out to Porsche for comment. Explain yourselves, crafty Germans.
Porsche Still Plans On Making Loads Of Money
Of course, the goal of a car company isn’t to make awesome cars, it’s to make money. Sure, someone could start a company that exclusively builds brown, manual, rear-wheel-drive diesel wagons, but it would probably go bankrupt in three-to-five business days. As such, Porsche is targeting an operating return on sales of 20 percent, a very high figure for a car company. For context, the business analysts at Bain & Company found that the average automaker return on sales (also known as EBIT margin) was 7.8 percent in the third quarter of 2022.
So what sort of moves will Porsche make to get there? According to Chairman of the Executive Board Oliver Blume, “We are expanding our product portfolio with more sports car concepts. We will also continue to focus on limited editions and expand our Sonderwunsch programme in the future.” Put simply, expect to see wilder and wilder Porsches as time goes on.
So, that about sums up what we can expect to see from Porsche over the next few years. I’ll really miss the dino-burning current generation of 718 sports car but am curious to see what new special editions and wild Sonderwunsch specs will arise in the coming years. What are you most looking forward to from Porsche?
(Photo credits: Porsche)
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…okay, so what’s the tow capacity of the big chonker EV?
Tow package available?
WILL THE ROOF TENT FIT?!
At least I’ll be able to take my 2001 Boxster to the track. Those new 718s won’t be there, at least my local track. They can’t afford to have 6000 gallons of water on hand (as well as a bunch of other special equipment) should one get in an accident and catch fire.
I’d like to see an electric 718 redesigned with a drag coefficient comparable to the Taycan(~0.20), eschewing all the angular styling bullshit of the current 718 models and going back to the sexy curves of the original Cayman and evoking cues from the 550 coupe, but with a smallish by modern standards Boxster-like frontal area. Should be able to keep the weight under 2,800 lbs if the battery pack is kept below 40 kWh using the same type of Panasonic 21700 cells found in the Tesla Model 3, because an electric car doesn’t need a transmission and could use a 120 lb switched reluctance motor to make 300 peak horsepower, and then rely on its low drag to maintain a high top speed with what would only be 150-ish continuous horsepower. This in turn would yield a consumption of under 180 Wh/mile cruising 70 mph on the freeway, and a range exceeding 200 miles, while keeping the car lighter and more nimble than the gasoline variants that preceded it. With such a weight and drive system, 0-60 mph could be under 4 seconds, and if geared appropriately for the motor’s continuous horsepower, top speed could still be over 170 mph without the motor overheating.
Instead, we’re likely to get a 2-ton lardass of a vehicle with overly-aggressive, drag-inducing styling cues that requires 400+ horsepower to get out of its own way, because Porsche has indeed strayed very far from its roots. The emphasis on SUVs exemplifies this.
I would like to see the Hyperion XP-1 Hydrogen/Electric setup under a Taycan to compare range per fuel up versus a battery, then also performance. 2751 lbs, fully electric drive, Capacitor power from a Fuel Cell that emits water and 1016-mile range.
I think “medium term” is meant to contrast with short term, not long term — so they’re saying in the short term the ICE 718 and electric 718s will coexist, but in the medium term the ICE one will go away and it’ll be electric only (presumably also for the long term). -718 owner very interested in whether there will be a 2025 ICE Cayman
I’m really hoping for a plug in hybrid, but maybe that will never happen.
Cars like the 718 and 911 for me are mostly sub 150 miles a day, with occasional 300 miles plus days as part of a road trip.
I regularly take mine on 2-3000 mile road trips where half the point is to go drive the Beartooth Highway or the Coronado Trail or whatever spiritedly, so an EV makes no sense for me at the moment. I ordered a ’23 Cayman, manual, but dropped out just before delivery (long story); now hoping there’s a 2025 model I can get as my last manual gas car to keep for several years before switching over
Did Porsche speak to future 911’s? I get the “wilder and wilder” yielding significantly more profit for exclusivity but would also be nice to have the ability to work hard and acquire a new, simple 911 with a manual transmission for “reasonable” sums of money.
I believe Porsche is on the record saying that the entry-level Porsche is a used one. If they didn’t explicitly say it then at least they’ve been doing it for a while.
My hot take: make the 718 a hybrid, give it a 2.0L flat 6 making approx 200 hp then another 100+ from an electric motor. Classic porsche sound and probably get gas mileage in the 30s if not 40s win, win, win instead of another mostly souless bland mobile masquerading as a cool classic car.
200hp from a 2L is not very ambitious.
The current Boxster GTS gets 360 from a 2.5, so I would expect around 320 by then from a 2L.
Add another 100 from an electric motors and that’s a quick car.
sounds like the RAV4 Prime.
Dont kid yourself Thomas, if a cow ever got the chance he’d eat you and everyone you cared about.
Ah, a fellow Far Side fan, I see.
While Gary Larson is great, that is a nearly direct Simpsons quote. The original name was Jimmy.
It’s not really a floor. It’s more of a steel grating that allows material to sluice through so it can be collected and exported.
When I grow up, I’m going to Bovine University