The Porsche Taycan is what you think about when you think about an electric Porsche. Well, there will be hybrid and EV Boxsters and Caymans as well.
That’s according to Autocar which spoke with Porsche CEO Oliver Blume who confirmed electric Porsche Boxster and Cayman prototypes were currently being tested. The plan is for them to go on sale by 2022.
Blume also indicated that plug-in hybrid and hybrid powertrains were also in the works with testing slated to begin in the near future. He didn’t go as far as confirm if the new Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman would get PHEV, hybrid or both engine options along with the fully electric model.
Interestingly, the decision to go hybrid comes from an internal study that showed that a fully-electric Boxster couldn’t go more than 186 miles because of the space available for a lithium-ion battery in the Boxster’s current mid-engined architecture. In other words, Porsche couldn’t make the Boxster and Cayman electric without changing what we love about the Boxster and Cayman.
Porsche 718 Boxster T | Photo: Porsche
To keep the cars small and perfectly balanced like they are now, Porsche had to start thinking about other powertrain possibilities which is when hybrid and plug-in hybrid possibilities were brought up. Still according to Autocar, the electric Porsche Boxster would be built on the new PPE (Premium Platform Electric) platform while the hybrid and PHEV versions would be built into the current Boxster and Cayman.
Porsche is going all-in on electrification with the upcoming Porsche Taycan and fully-electric Porsche Macan. The company currently offers two e-hybrid models as well in the Cayenne and Panamera lineups. Notice that throughout all of this we have only heard rumors about a Porsche 911 hybrid and nothing officially from Porsche aside from the usual “we’re always looking into new powertrains”.
Porsche Taycan Concept | Photo: Porsche
Electrifying the Porsche Boxster and Cayman is certainly a major step for Porsche, but somehow we know the German automaker will make it work.
Source: Autocar
