Next-generation Boxster and Cayman are coming says Porsche boss
The 718 Boxster and Cayman will be replaced, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume has confirmed, and the next generation of the two-seater sports car may well be electric. “We have an opportunity to do it as an EV, but we are still in the concept period,” Blume told Top Gear. “We haven’t decided.”
Fans will be reassured to hear that Porsche still has faith in its entry-level sports car, but whether it comes powered by dinosaur juice or the electrons of the future remains to be seen. Porsche has deftly proven that it can make an exciting EV in the form of the Taycan, but producing a lightweight and inexpensive EV sports car may be beyond battery technology for a while.
Porsche’s upcoming Le Mans hypercar will use a new type of battery with silicon electrodes, but the cost is prohibitive to use in production cars. We also know that Porsche is investing heavily in eFuels in a bid to clean up combustion, so if that program is a success it could give a gas-powered sports car a new lease of life. Whatever fuels the next Porsche junior, don’t expect it to arrive until 2024 at the earliest.
Blume also told Top Gear that a successor to its 918 Spyder hypercar is on the horizon, albeit rather distantly. An electrified challenger to the Lotus Evija or Pininfarina Battista is unlikely to appear until the latter half of the decade.
