Porsche Is Bringing Back The Gas 718s And This Is Why I Have Trust Issues

Ever since that time my parents left me waiting outside after school for, like, four hours when I was 8, I’ve basically stopped taking people at their word. When someone says something “will” or “won’t” happen, no matter how much conviction they say it with, I’ll internally operate with cautious optimism until said event is (or isn’t) unfolding before my eyes. Case in point: Porsche and automotive media have spent the past few years mourning the gas-powered 718 Boxster and Cayman because, well, Porsche told us they’d be going away in favor of all-electric successors. Now, though—surprise, surprise—it’s apparently coming back.

According to CEO Oliver Blume on a Friday investor call, Porsche is reacting to the Great EV Slowdown and pivoting back toward more gas-powered cars. As part of this, an official slide deck says “top” versions of the next-gen 718 sports cars (read: GT4 RS and Spyder RS) will still use combustion engines. Other “strategic realignments” include the big, upcoming, flagship, previously electric-only SUV codenamed “K1” now getting gas-only and plug-in hybrid variants, and confirmation that the Cayenne and Panamera’s gas engines will get “major overhauls” and be available “well into the 2030s.”

Specifically, from a press release:

• The product range is to be specifically supplemented by brand-defining vehicle models with combustion engines.

• The existing combustion engine models will remain available for a longer period. New generations of successor models have been added to the Cycle Plan for these vehicle models.

Porsche is also “rescheduling” the development of a planned EV platform that was supposed to happen “in the 2030s.”

“We want to meet new market realities and changing customer demands,” said Blume. “We have seen a clear drop in demand for exclusive battery-electric cars, and we are taking that into account.”

Is the news shocking? Sure. But am I shocked? Hardly.

History shows (and is continuing to show) that, for the foreseeable future at least, previous electrification plans and mandates have been optimistic at best. Nowadays, whenever an automaker says this or that will happen by this year or that year, I don’t doubt that said company will definitely try to make that happen. But take it as gospel? I’ll believe it when I see it.

In my head, the whole “it’s the end of the gas 718s” thing was always “OK, I get why this is happening,” but also “there’s no way this is actually happening.” Have you driven a 718? Or been in the general vicinity of someone who has? They’re brilliant sports cars—lithe and atmospheric to rev out. Even the best electric vehicles, on the other hand, as virtuous and capable as they are as daily drivers, aren’t either those things.

And the market has made its tastes clear. Ask Dodge how that new electric Charger is doing. And while I’m sure Porsche has the capability to engineer one hell of a 718 EV that can boogie almost as well as the old one, the entire premise simply wouldn’t and did not sit well. More cynically, I also suspect there’s simply too much money on the table for the next-gen sports cars to not have an ICE.

I mean, now that Blume has essentially confirmed that an internal combustion engine will indeed fit in the next-gen 718 twins, I’d go as far as predicting that, sure, maybe initially it’ll be confined to the top GT cars, but lower variants like the GTS and maybe even the S or base models will get it eventually.

Oh, and while I’m here making semi-bold predictions: Hemi back in the Charger before 2027. Mark my words.

Topshot: Porsche