The Porsche 718 EV: Everything You Need to Know

Porsche may be using some radical new tech to build its next electric sports cars.

Published November 17, 2023

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Porsche should reveal the hybrid 911 soon, but the brand has been cagey about when (although we know not this decade) or even whether the 911 will go electric. That doesn’t mean Porsche won’t build an electric sports car, however. Porsche has already confirmed that the next generation of the entry-level 718 Cayman and Boxster sports cars will be EVs.

Here’s what we know about the upcoming electric Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman.

What will the Porsche electric sports car look like?

The Porsche 718 EV should be similar proportionally to the combustion 718. According to Autocar, the two vehicles will be built on the same production line using new “flexline” technology.

The 718 EV should also use an “E Core layout” that positions the batteries behind the driver but ahead of the rear axle. This should mimic the current Cayman and Boxster’s weight distribution. It would also allow the driver to sit lower than in a flat skateboard platform and improve the car’s aerodynamics and performance. Porsche offered a preview with the Mission R concept.

How much power will Porsche’s electric sports car have?

We don’t know yet. The Mission R packed all-wheel-drive with 643 horsepower on the rear axle and 429 horsepower up front to propel the car from 0 to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds. We suspect that the production 718 replacement won’t hit those extremes, both for cost-based and not-overshadowing-the-911 reasons. Porsche could offer a base rear-wheel-drive and an upgrade AWD version that approximate the current power range in the 718 lineups from around 300 to 400 horsepower.

Expect the 718 replacement to be capable of serious fast-charging

The Taycan packs 800-volt charging tech, which is more capable than the 400-volt charging that Tesla and most other manufacturers use. Porsche has been teasing even faster 900-volt charging tech in its electric sports car concepts. The Mission R concept had enough power to do a half-hour race and recharge from 5 to 80 percent in just 15 minutes. We can presume some of this tech will end up in Porsche’s new sports car.

When will Porsche’s electric 718 arrive?

Porsche has confirmed the electric 718 successor is happening and should hit the road by the “middle of this decade.” VW Group EV timelines have been delayed a bit. But the electric sports car is expected to arrive in 2025, after the Macan EV and before the Cayenne EV and upcoming three-row EV.

The brand did note that the car would be all-electric in the “medium term,” which likely means an updated combustion Cayman and Boxster will stick around alongside it in the short term — similar to the plan for the Macan.