For the past few years, one question has been at the back of sports car fans’ minds: What’s going on with the electric Porsche 718? What began as a bold move has, over time, faced setbacks and delays. Now there’s a chance Porsche might shelve it altogether to trim expenses. As Bloomberg reports:
New Chief Executive Officer Michael Leiters may scrap the planned 718 line of Boxster and Cayman EVs because of development delays and rising expenses, said the people, who declined to be named discussing internal deliberations.
While a final decision certainly hasn’t been made yet, a credible report that cancelling the electric 718 Cayman and Boxster is on the table represents a serious about-face. Let’s rewind the clock four years to the time when Porsche announced that all variants of its next-generation 718 mid-engined model series would be battery electric vehicles.
At the time, electric performance cars were still pretty hot. An electron-powered sedan arms race was brewing between the Tesla Model S Plaid and the then-forthcoming Lucid Air Sapphire, the Rimac Nevera was putting out some astonishing figures, and to some, an all-electric near future looked feasible. The initial plan involved batteries from Northvolt, an evolution of familiar styling, and a new architecture. It didn’t take long for spy shots to start appearing on the internet. In 2023, mildly disguised versions of the electric 718 Boxster were spotted by automotive paparazzi, which lined up with a targeted launch for 2025. Yeah, that launch didn’t end up happening on schedule.
Perhaps the first real sign of trouble came in 2024, when an Automotive News report claimed that the switch to electric power in a sports car wasn’t going smoothly for Porsche, and it was going even less smoothly for battery pack supplier Valmet Automotive.
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.
The challenges that this presents have led to Porsche to seek frequent changes from battery supplier Valmet Automotive, which has built a factory in the German state of Baden-Württemberg specifically for the order. Valmet is seeking compensation for the extra work that Porsche does not want to pay or only wants to pay partially, according to the report.
While Valmet Automotive was slated to build the battery packs, the cells themselves were expected to come from Swedish supplier Northvolt. In March of 2025, Northvolt filed for bankruptcy in Sweden. The supposed key player behind the 718 EV’s battery cells was having to restructure, and while overall delays can’t concretely be pinned on that alone, it likely didn’t help.
In September, Porsche seemed like it was altering plans. During an investor call, former Porsche CEO Oliver Blume announced that top versions of the next-generation 718 would feature internal combustion. Considering the model was initially designed to be all-electric, this sort of switch-up would require some substantial re-engineering. As Autocar reported in December:
The PPE Sport platform uses a stressed, load-bearing battery pack and a flat floor, so removing the battery would significantly weaken the entire bodyshell.
As a result, the proposal from Porsche engineers centres on developing a new structural floor section that bolts into the platform’s existing hard points, effectively adding the rigidity back in. A redesigned rear bulkhead and subframe will then support the engine and transmission, Autocar has been told.
Major packaging constraints remain, not least because the electric structure provides no central tunnel, nor provision for a fuel tank, fuel lines or exhaust system. Engineers suggest these measures require the development of a completely new rear section because the architecture was never designed for a petrol engine.
If we take a step back and look at basically every prior generation of Boxster and Cayman, the fuel tank has historically resided up against the front bulkhead, fuel lines ran along a fairly flat floor, shifter cables snaked through the rear firewall, and coolant lines often got tucked up alongside the outer sill. That’s already a lot to package, and that’s before we even start to think about a capable heat exchanger stack or the internal combustion powertrain itself. Considering the MMB platform underneath the outgoing 718 is technically shared with the current 911, and that Porsche has previously spun mid-engined and rear-engined cars from similar cloth, reworking the PPE Sport platform for internal combustion doesn’t seem like the easiest path forward.
Of course, there’s also the possibility that electric versions of the next 718 Cayman and Boxster make it to production. Porsche is deep in the running prototype phase, and cancelling a project this late is often an expensive proposition. Even if this rumoured shelving doesn’t happen, the general demand for electric sports cars might not be strong enough for success.
Unless engineered completely from the ground up with a huge focus on weight savings, electric sports cars often don’t have all the same advantages over contemporary sedans that combustion-powered sports cars do. While the energy density of battery cells has improved, even assuming 200 watt-hours-per-kilogram, a decent-sized battery pack is going to be fairly heavy compared to an internal combustion powertrain. Add in the low center of gravity that most modern skateboard platforms feature, and it shouldn’t be surprising that top-flight electric sedans can now go toe-to-toe with serious machinery. The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra beat the Rimac Nevera around the Nürburgring, and the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT is only a bit over two seconds behind the Croatian electric hypercar.
At the same time, sports car culture is currently celebrating everything mechanical. From naturally aspirated engines to manual transmissions, the EV democratization of straight-line speed has shifted focus towards engagement. While Taycan electric sedan sales in America were down 12.7 percent last year, sales of the 718 were up 12.3 percent in its final year of production, outselling the Taycan by 54.5 percent. For the next model cycle or so, it seems that a combustion-powered mid-engined sports car is what the people want, rather than something electric. There’s also the possibility that the technology underpinning the electric 718 might be outdated by the time it’s expected to launch. The EV sports car world was thin in 2025, now models like the MG Cyberster and JMEV SC01 are either on sale in Europe or headed there.
If the electric Porsche 718 ends up becoming lost media like the Hyundai Portico, it would be both a shame and one of the greatest automotive stories of all time. Even if an electric sports car might not be the same as a combustion-powered one, it’s still something I’d like to experience. For now, we’ll just have to wait for Porsche to make a decision.
Top graphic images: Porsche; DepositPhotos.com
I have a thought no one asked for. 718 Cayman/Boxter may never come back.
They were initially launched as the entry level Porche, but I think Macan has taken it’s place. Does a Porche have space for two sports cars (911 and 718)? If you haven’t checked recently, they both are basically the same size. The main difference dimensions wise is engine placement and presence of rear seats. So I guess Porche wanted to turn 718 into electric sports car experiment. To me, it sounds like they have some test mules to do some finer tuning and are discovering that they can’t get the “Porche sport car feel” that they are looking. This is aside from the fact that their going to have a hard time selling the things. I think they’ve been having a hard time selling 718 since Macan came out, but I could be wrong about that.
That’s a bummer, could have been alot of fun with all that weight down low. If mutually exclusive i’d take an ice 718 but an ev version would be really cool too.
Worst part is that it sounds like they are gunna put out some compromised ice version with an ev optimized chassis that is converted to ice. Another casualty of all the former ev hype.
Agreed. This upcoming generation of ICE-powered 718 will be the one to avoid till they build another ICE-only platform for it.
The original boxter was made to be fun and ‘ahum’ reasonably affordable. It was not a very powerfull, nor a very fast car. Off course, faster versions have arrived in the mean time.
I am very sure Porsche, in all their engineering might, can come up with a fun and reasonably affordable, electric roadster.
Give it 50 kWh and 200 kW and some fast charging capabilities. It might be lower weight than the original. And with comparable range.
It looks like they want it to be faster than everything on sale. Or at least comparable. This will make it heavy and expensive. And not very interesting to drive.
I was looking forward to the EV 718.
I have two EVs and the small one a Mini Cooper SE (137kw) is so much fun, but has FWD and RWD would be so much more fun. You are right: 200kw and small light batteri would be enough for most. But in this day and age 200kw is nothing in an EV, but like the Miata it can be enough.
“SURPRISE!”
-Cam from Modern Family
“If the electric Porsche 718 ends up becoming lost media like the Hyundai Portico, it would be both a shame and one of the greatest automotive stories of all time.”
A shame?????
Everyone who wanted an EV two seater sports car raise your hand.
Yeah, I see you guys in the back. Okay, anyone else?
Didn’t think so.
Cancel it. It was a mistake in the first place.
And make sure the good folks at Mazda are paying attention for the future of the Miata.
*raises hand in the back*
I want(ed) an electric Cayman. Though I’m pretty confident I’m probably the only one in the entire southern hemisphere so…
I want an electric sportscar as well.
I have high hopes for mazda to eventually make something I can enjoy and perhaps even afford.
Raises hand in the back.
Well a few things
1. Subsidies for EVs are going so real prices add $30k
2. The insane requirements that no ICE cars are made after 2035 are being rolled back because sanity has returned..
3. Facts are showing EVs are far worse for the environment than ICE so why ruin the environment?
“facts”
The news
Most people that watch ‘that news’ are defending a different kind of ICE as well, methinks.
Better to cancel it now, before releasing it and coming to the shocking conclusion that it won’t sell well.
BMW is keeping the M3 ICE and the M4 EV, and I bet the M3 outsells the M4 by a large factor.
Since the decision to split up the M3 into M3/M4 with the F80, hasn’t the M3 always been outselling the M4 by a large margin?
I don’t keep up with the stats. I’m not sure.
Whatever the split is, I bet it’s going to become more pronounced.
It still surprises me that some random Chinese tuner shop with a YouTube channel and little budget managed to create the idea for a ‘mid-engined’ EV sportscar before anyone else. I’m talking about the SSC/JMEV SC01, which uses a tube frame chassis and places the battery in a box shape behind the cabin rather than underneath, which seems to result in a lower CoG than the latter in a sportscar because it allows for a lower height.
Matt Farah’s idea (which I think is a good one, and not just his) is that car makers need to focus on making EVs fun, not just on high performance levels. I.e., the fake shifts and engine noises on the Hyundai N. With EVs, the power train is no longer the source of differentiation – all electric motors are kind of the same.
For Porsche, his suggestion is to allow the cars to adjust to emulate various classic Porches – powerband, sound, response, suspension etc. – which can be done with all of the components on a modern Porsche which are computer controlled and adjustable.
Of course, being Porsche, you’d pay for each DLC. You could have various subscription plans and have new DLCs coming out. New this month, 930 Turbo emulator for only $159.99.
I like the idea, but how realistic are they going to get with the programs?
I can’t imagine they would set up the drivetrain to triple its horsepower mid-turn to simulate the turbo spooling up in a 930. Without that, are you really experiencing a 930?
Bear with me, but what if EVs are…not fun? Sure, the silly acceleration is amusing for a while, but if you have to engineer them to be worse to make them feel like an ICE care that surely must tell you something.
I think the combination of the regulatory rollbacks in key markets and the improved outlook in e-fuels (which are getting closer to price viability for higher cost markets like Europe) are probably making high-end manufacturers think again about a fully electric future in the long term. Even if carbon neutral (or even carbon negative) petrol does end up being twice the price of fossil fuel, I can imagine there are plenty of rich folks willing to pay for it.
Yes well said I wish I could have stated it that well
More and more, I’m beginning to agree. EVs just aren’t fun, and they shouldn’t be. They should lean into their strengths: easy to maintain, efficient, clean transportation.
Leave fun for gas burning internal combustion. There’s no reason that internal combustion engines need to die.
Only 4 years ago, EVERYONE paid it and the world didn’t end. They seemed to get about as upset about their fuel costs doubling from $125 to $250 per month as they did for their rent doubling from $1500 to $3000, though.
Yes making them for a smaller market and no way can you make a vacuum cleaner fun is a good idea.
Can someone explain why packaging a couple fuel lines, coolant tubes, and shifter cable(?) in an EV skateboard platform with the battery cavity replaced with some replacement structural members is so difficult? I’d understand if you had to route exhaust pipes and a driveshaft if it was an FR layout but this car is MR.
Packaging in general is difficult, last minute changes make it even harder. You will have other components in the way, clearances have to be maintained, you need space for service and assembly, tolerance stack ups etc. You need space for fasteners and brackets, there will be a spec for distance between them. Each component has an envelope it exists in and they are all competing for finite space.
It does seem like, with the battery gone, there would be lots of space available.
Packaging is no doddle. Cars are not like they were in the 1950s; people are chasing grams and millimetres. It would be easier and cheaper to develop an entirely separate platform.
The simplest answer would seem to be to use the 911 platform like they’ve always done, and have the EV 718 as-is, like they’ve done w/ the gas & electric Macan.
Easy peezy but doing it cheap and safe now you have a problem.
The radiators need air management, not just space to exist. Same with exhaust, which needs space not only for itself, but heat shields and sound deadening. The entire NVH of the car is different, requiring redesign of the interior and its insulation. Engine mounts are specific hard points that need to be engineered from the chassis’ inception, as are fuel tanks, which are safety-critical.
But besides basic, practical packaging, there’s the issue of weight and intent. The BEV would have been hundreds of pounds heavier than its fuel-burning sibling, and requires thicker/heavier control arms, subframes, spring perches, chassis rails, struts (especially in the case of these MacPherson Strut cars), and everything else. It would also have tons of torque, requiring thick driveshafts, hubs and wheel bearings, as well as mounts and other supporting structure to prevent wheel hop and chassis distortion under acceleration. When you convert a car from BEV to internal combustion without redesigning these components, you end up with an overweight, underpowered vehicle that can’t keep up with the competition. Fine for a luxury crossover, but unacceptable for a 2-seat sports car.
Mercifully, the 718 can pull a page from its own book and just keep the previous formula of borrowing the front suspension components (and indeed the whole front two-thirds, in the 986’s case) from the 911. Every Boxster/Cayman has had the 911 suspension/subframe/frunk/crash structure/A-pillars up front, with the same suspension recycled out back. That leaves the rear half of the body and roll structure to be redesigned, plus some modifications to the front suspension’s geometry, which is reused in the back (same lower control arms and uprights). This means they’ll still have to design a new 718, it just happens that the 718 is easier to design than most cars, because it borrows heavily from its sibling.
At some point, you have to accept the sunk costs
And not the ability to use some crappy tax laws to write things off you never intended on producing or releasing. Looking at car manufacturers and Hollywood studios.
Even at the very high level at big corporations, that can often be a very difficult thing to accept, its kind of refreshing to see Porsche recognize that. Better to lose an enormous about of money than to lose an even more enormous about of money, the right choice doesn’t have to be good, just has to be less bad.
It seems crazy to completely cut a car this close to production, but then again, it also seemed crazy to try to shoehorn an ICE powerplant into a chassis designed for an electric powerplant. Just crazy all around.
Just give the PPE to VW and make a new 914
Well if it goes to VW it would be the ID.914.
I’ve always had a desire to find a 914 with a bad engine and convert to EV. Engine compartment right in the center gives you a spot to put batteries and maintain good weight distribution. Plus the engine was always the weak link in the 914.
On Saturday night I bumped into a guy who actually wrote the book on it. He was driving a gorgeous red ’75 and noted he also has a yellow ’74. He had worked for EV West (a noted West Coast EV conversion outfit) and based on his work history and the work I saw in the car he had the chops to both do it and document it. I normally don’t do website plugs but this one seems legitimately apropos to your interests, so here you go:
914electric.com
Release it as a Porsche but give it a new name?
As someone whose bucket list includes owning a manual, flat-six Cayman one day, I approve of this message.
Don’t forget that it has to be naturally aspirated – no turbos
While I can understand why such a move might happen, it’d also be a shame if it did. I was kind of excited to see what this car would look like.
Also wow the Hyundai Portico feels like a deeeep cut.
“I was kinda excited to see what this car would look like” Not buy, and not even fully excited, just wanted 5 seconds to distract your brain and move on. That’s the problem, no one would buy these, so they aren’t selling them. If you want, you can probably email them once its canceled and they can send you an AI mock up. Better yet, just go ask AI to make you one and save your time.
I’m a university student in Britain. Forget the asking price… Even if the car does come out, between taxes and insurance, unless I get extremely lucky I have no shot of buying one of these things new for a long time.