Believed to be called the Boxster Spyder RS, the main incarnation of the 718 will be the most hardcore version of the convertible to date. What comes next will be a completely different car as the Zuffenhausen house has announced its smaller sports car will be purely electric. Porsche will therefore adopt a different strategy compared to the 911, which will first go hybrid before losing its ICE after 2030.
To signify its EV ambitions, Porsche unveiled the Mission R concept about a year ago as a fully electric race car with aggressive aero and nearly 1,000 horsepower. The next Boxster EV won’t be as dramatic, but some style cues should rub off on street models. New renderings of our friends on motor.es attempts to predict the future of the convertible by adapting the concept’s DNA to more tame street legal cars.
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As good things come in pairs, the German high-end marque is also working on a new Cayman with a fixed metal roof that should be closer to the Mission R. It’s worth noting that last year’s concept was actually based on the current Cayman GT4 Clubsport. . The actual production version will use an adaptation of the upcoming Premium Platform Electric (PPE) co-developed with Audi, meaning some proportions will change after getting rid of the old ICE bones.
Porsche believes the 718 electric duo will continue to use the mid-engined layout of the gasoline-fueled model by installing the battery between the axles. That will give the sporty EV a lower center of gravity and optimized weight distribution to sharpen handling. By the way, the all-wheel-drive Mission R with its dual motors weighs just 1,500 kilograms (3,306 pounds). This is a very low curb weight considering the Cayman GT4 RS is only 85 kg (187 lbs) lighter.
While it’s okay to be skeptical about the prospect of an electric sports car, if there was one automaker that could pull it off, it would be Porsche. With the Taycan, the company has shown that even a fairly large and heavy vehicle can attract enthusiasts while offering the practicality of a four-door model.
Before the 718 goes electric, the Macan will do the same at some point next year and coexist peacefully with gasoline models for a while. Later this decade, the large SUV built in Leipzig will be added to the EV lineup.
