There’s nothing quite like a new frontier to get people going. For years now, Porsche fans have been holding their breath for the electric Porsche 718 sports car, which has been expected to go on sale in 2025, replacing the combustion-powered model that went on sale in 2016. They might be waiting a little bit longer. A series of recent reports have put that target in doubt, and it’s enough to cause genuine worry for Porsche’s entry-level sports car.
The first two electric products after the Taycan are supposed to be the Macan EV and the 718 EV, and we already have one of them on the market. While the former was originally meant to launch in 2023, in October 2022, Forbes reported that the electric crossover would be delayed by a year, and that lines up with the on-sale date in 2024 that we actually saw. Now, this wasn’t the end of the world because the combustion-powered Macan wasn’t out of production yet, and from a pure propulsion standpoint, it may have helped that the PPE platform underneath the electric Macan is shared across multiple divisions.
However, while the electric Macan was reportedly delayed due to software issues, the electric 718 reportedly faces a much more serious delay that likely can’t be patched up in an over-the-air update. What’s more, it was originally forecast to go on sale next year, lining up with the discontinuation of the combustion-powered model. Let’s unpack what’s going on and why sports car enthusiasts should probably be at least a little worried.
See, earlier this month, German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported that Porsche chose Swedish battery company Northvolt as the only battery cell supplier for the electric 718 Boxster and Cayman. Oh scheiße. While high-density cells produced using locally sourced materials seemed like a good idea, Northvolt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month. Keep in mind, Chapter 11 doesn’t mean that a company’s dead as this route permits restructuring, but restructuring can slow down a company’s operations.
You know what can also slow down development? Revisions. For months now, we’ve known that Finnish supplier Valmet is slated to assemble battery packs for the electric Porsche 718 sports car, but a recent report from Automotive News sister site Automobilwoche claims that Porsche might still not be happy with battery pack composition. As Automotive News Europe writes, “The automaker is finding it difficult to match the driving characteristics in the sport cars with the move to a battery powertrain from a mid-engine combustion one.” That challenge has reportedly led to battery pack revisions, which means that months out from the targeted start of production, the battery pack design on the electric 718 might not be finalized.
Obviously, such a key component of a vehicle requires significant testing, validation, and is necessary to homologate a car. For instance, the EPA will need to know range and MPGe to issue approval. Considering it can take months to homologate a car for sale, a finalized battery pack seems like the sort of thing Porsche would want to have now, especially given a production target of 2025.
If the electric Porsche 718 misses its production target, what does Porsche do? The outgoing combustion model is set to die in October 2025, and a stay of execution is looking unlikely due to the model failing to meet new EU cybersecurity laws. At the same time, even though it’s still a brilliant car, it’s a bit old. Keep in mind, the 982-generation 718 is really just an evolution of the 981 Boxster and Cayman, cars that launched more than a decade ago. If the 982 ends production as scheduled and the electric 718 isn’t ready yet, it could mark Porsche’s first time without an entry-level two-door sports car since the mid-1960s.
Alright, let’s put delays aside for a second and hone in on the report that Porsche’s still “finding it difficult” to get the same sort of thrill from the electric 718 as a combustion-powered model would offer. This is a critical thing to get right, but Porsche has a history of nailing the driving experience. However, assuming Porsche does its magic, will consumers be receptive? Relatively slow Rimac Nevera sales are a sign that customers at the top of the automotive food chain might not be widely enthused by the prospect of electric sports cars, and although an electric Porsche 718 will come in at a lower price point and should offer wider appeal, sports car buyers are a traditionalist bunch.
For instance, a naturally aspirated engine isn’t objectively better than a turbocharged one when it comes to specific output, and a manual gearbox isn’t objectively better than a dual-clutch transaxle when it comes to shift times, but the 718 everyone wants is a manual GTS 4.0 because it’s fun. As it stands, the performance EV landscape — with a few exceptions — is largely two-dimensional. There’s huge power on tap to rocket you out of corners and you do need to focus on slowing these cars into corners, but a lot of automakers don’t focus on what happens in-between. If the Taycan is any indication, Porsche will, but getting traditional enthusiasts to accept that message is an uphill battle. Just look at the discourse around the existing four-cylinder 718 models, cars that still have manual transmissions and engines.
I’m worried the electric Porsche 718 won’t make it to showrooms on time, I’m worried that enthusiasts might accept it, but perhaps more than anything else, I’m worried that another sports car might flop. As someone who loves cars, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the sports car market seems fragile at the moment, with a future called into question. A world without new sports cars just doesn’t seem as bright as one with them, which makes it all the more important that the electric Porsche 718 succeeds, because it’s set to be a pioneer.
(Photo credits: Porsche)
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Sorry, did I read that right? Not meeting EU cyber security laws? Will my home computer be phased out at the same time because it doesn’t have lane keep assist?
I think it’s to do with over the air updates and other data being sent from the car to manufacturer and vice versa. I was very surprised a few years ago when I received an email from my leased BMW 1 series that they had received data from the car it was due a service.
Also although they didn’t say it pretty just the timing of Jaguar killing most of its range mid 2024 was also related to this.
It never made sense to electrify the 718 so I don’t really care. Listen, I’m not anti-EV and I’m far from anti electrification. I think BEVs are great for a handful of specific applications and will continue to get better. I think hybrids are great for pretty much everyone across the board when it comes to cars that are primarily meant to be appliances…aka most of them.
But an EV makes absolutely no sense in this application because they’re inherently antithetical to the purpose a 718 or similar type of car (like a Miata) fulfills. What matters most with cars like this is engagement. They exist solely for the driving pleasure. And what increases driving pleasure?
Well…light weight, an excellent chassis, a mechanical connection to the car (usually facilitated by a manual transmission), and a good auditory experience certainly come to mind, although even the auditory experience isn’t necessarily vital because it’s not like Miatas or 4 cylinder 718s even sound that great. It’s about feeling like the car is an extension of you, and honestly throwing a tiny roadster around is one of life’s great pleasures.
Right now only ICE can offer all of that. Will EVs get there eventually? Maybe, but if it ain’t broke why fix it? I also don’t see an environmental angle here at all because these things usually only sell in tiny numbers and they’re usually fuel and emissions efficient when compared to other sports cars. A handful of enthusiasts taking an ICE 718 out on the weekend aren’t going to make a single goddamn difference in the grand scheme of things.
And honestly shifting the responsibility for climate change onto individuals rather than corporations (which are responsible for over 70% of carbon emissions!) and insisting that EVs are the only solution is part of the reason why we’re not seeing mass adoption yet. There are tons of applications that they are objectively much worse for, and this is one of them.
We don’t need an electric 718. We don’t need an electric Miata. No one wants them. Focus our finite electrification resources on cars where they’re actually going to make a big difference. Commuters, haulers, etc. This whole exercise has been very dumb, and it’s not like Porsche even needs carbon credits or CAFE boost since they sell so many EVs and hybrids already.
I’m guessing the answer is whynotboth.gif.
EV tech needs developed and iterated on to get to the point where an EV Miata matches the feeling of an ICE Miata – it will get there eventually, as you said. So why not develop a sports car EV at the same time as developing commuter EVs, if both will help push the tech forward? The first batch of driver’s EVs won’t be perfect, but each will be better than the previous attempt. Why not start now?
I guess you could argue that it’s wasteful to use resources on low-volume EVs, but I lose no sleep thinking about automakers losing money when a planned model doesn’t pan out. Porsche will be just fine.
I want an electric 718 because top down hearing the road, tires, and wind increases engagement. It is totally feasible to design a lightweight 2 seater EV, and I’m thiiiis close to just doing it myself. I’m tired of automaker’s excuses and of engineers to blinded by their love of the past to imagine the future
Oh no! …. Anyway, …..
/Clarkson/
And, yet, it’s Porsche’s parent company that is taking away that Manual Transmission in the Golf GTI & Golf R.
Is it a numbers game, or is it halo effect?
Lol at the idea of a battery pack design being finalized months from production. If it weren’t for last-minute changes, engineering would be pretty boring
I suppose that to most people, engineering is still pretty boring. But it would be boring for the engineers too
It really makes sense that Porsche is German, because I haven’t seen many bigger cases of corporate schadenfreude than this recently.
Yes, we will discontinue our class-leading sports cars and replace them with EVs overnight and you, the customer, will just need to accept it.
On the face of it, it’s largely due to the EU regs that they are getting rid of manual transmissions and now converting sports cars to EVs.
I think the bigger issue for them is that they think they will be able to push these on the US market when we do not have the fun-crushing regs the EU does.
I know they need to be able to scale manufacturing across a lot of global cars to make it work but I think all of the manufacturers are going to have to figure out a way to make smaller number, niche cars work. Porsche “should” be able to do this as they operate at the top of the market and margins are much better for them. But then, once manufacturers get used to a certain margin they are not very willing to accept less even if they are getting something that is historically quite high.
I think that really rings a little hollow when the 911 is keeping its gas engines.
This feels to me much more like “We’re Porsche, we know better than you what you want, and you want this EV”.
They could easily hide the cost of compliance in the MSRP and their buyers would pay it.
They’re being forced to hybridize the 911 though, and they’ve already come out and said they won’t be able to make another naturally aspirated GT3. Unfortunately EU regulations are coming for the 911 too, and as it’s the more iconic/higher sales/higher margins car for them it would make sense to prioritize keeping ICE there over the 718, which is a more niche product.
At some point there is going to be a “How many legions does the Pope command” response to some of these EU rules (not just in automotive).
I think that is true for the 911 much more so than the 718 twins.
Converting the 718 to EV likely has the effect of giving them more room to do more with their 911. Its hardly the first time they’ve protected the 911 by hamstringing the Boxster and Cayman.
I’m not confident that the failure of EV sports cars would spell the end of sports cars. They were always a niche market and low volume ICE vehicles are likely to continue for many years to come. I think it might be harder for supercar companies. At least Porsche can sell EV Crossovers and sedans to get their total emissions low enough to justify building ICE?
This is the exact reason that Porsche (and to an extent the other German auto companies) has gone all-in on E-fuel. It makes an ICE 911 essentially carbon neutral.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/porsche-predicts-bigger-role-e-fuels
The technology is marching on – we have an 80% e-fuel blend available for sale in the UK at the moment, and at £3.80 per litre (triple the usual UK cost) there is presumably at least a small business case for it otherwise they wouldn’t bother putting it up for sale.
https://motorspirit.co.uk/worlds-first-sustainable-fuel-for-classic-vehicles-launches-at-bicester-heritage
If it got down even to around the £2 per litre level I think it would be quite widely adopted due to the environmental benefits.
If I remember correctly, the sunsetting of the 982 was primarily because of the incoming EV replacement, and due to European Emissions regulations tightening. I can’t imaging they’d discontinue the 982 entirely in markets where it still passes homologation rules should the replacement be delayed. Sure Europe may be without a Boxster/Cayman for a year if they cannot get the existing engines homologated, but it would be a total fools errand to kill it in the North American market if there’s no reason to.
I just don’t know how much demand there still is in North America for it. It’s quite an old platform at this point and isn’t exactly cheap.
I bet they could rustle up some new demand by putting the old six cylinders back in the regular models.
I would not at all be opposed to Porsche pulling a Stellantis and extending the life of a platform by multiple years with nothing more than a spicy engine and some new equipment packages.
I’d venture to say the age of the platform is basically irrelevant.
The vast majority of these are sold to people who want an emotional experience. Top down driving, competence taking a turn quickly, pleasing sound coming from an engine behind you, etc.
Outside of the extreme hardcore track people who are buying the GT4 or a used Cayman, who would notice a 10% increase in chassis rigidity or whatever a new platform would offer? After all, it’s not as if there are a great deal of competitors in the market. The buyers probably would notice a 1000 lb weight increase from batteries, a missing manual transmission, and silent operation however.
There’s definitely demand for the GTS. It’s hard to get an allocation to order a new one. This is amazing considering it’s overpriced by about $30k. A GTS with a few options is about $110k. I think it should be about $80k.
I suspect you’d see a final model year sales boom similar to what happened with the E39 M5 when the E60 generation was unveiled. People will realize really quickly it’s now or never and there’s no going back.