In what would be yet another about-face on its EV plans, Porsche will reportedly offer internal combustion engine (ICE) powered versions of its next-generation 718 electric sports cars.
Due on sale in 2026, the hitherto all-electric fifth-generation Boxster roadster and fourth-generation Cayman coupe have already been previewed in concept form and spied undergoing development testing.
But now according to an Autocar report, they will also be re-engineered to accept mid-mounted petrol engines, like every previous Boxster and Cayman including the current 982-series, which introduced a new turbocharged four-cylinder boxer engine.
Production of the 982 models ended for Australia earlier this year and for other markets last month, but due to slowing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) Porsche announced in September that it would continue to sell “top ICE derivatives”, which could include the naturally aspirated 4.0-litre flat six-powered GTS, Boxster Spyder RS and Cayman GT4 RS flagships.
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At the time, Porsche said its “strategic realignment” to meet “new market realities” would involve winding back a number of its EV plans, including delaying the ‘Sport’ version of the Volkswagen’s Group’s Scalable Systems Platform.
The EV-only SSP Sport architecture was set to underpin an all-new seven-seat flagship SUV being developed by Porsche under the K1 codename, and electric-only replacements for the current Panamera and Taycan.
But with the SSP Sport platform now delayed until some time in the 2030s, the Porsche K1 will instead be powered by petrol and hybrid powertrains, as will a new-generation Cayenne to be sold alongside the upcoming Cayenne Electric, and the third-generation Panamera that was intended to be EV-only.
The latter is based on the same Platform Premium Electric (PPE) EV platform as the Macan Electric, which replaced the ICE Macan this year, but Porsche is now developing a separate new mid-size SUV powered by petrol and hybrid powertrains.
Codenamed M1, it’ll be based on the same Platform Premium Combustion (PPC) platform that underpins the newAudi Q5 and, to help speed it into production, Porsche willreportedly use Audi’s front-biased all-wheel drive systemrather than engineering its own setup with a rear bias, like it did with the original Macan.
Together, the wind-back of its EV plans and the development of new, unplanned ICE models has cost Porsche €1.8 billion ($A3.2 billion).
According to Autocar, the latest of these moves is the reverse engineering of the EV-only PPE Sport platform that has been developed for the new 718 electric sports cars to accommodate a mid-mounted engine.
Citing unnamed senior sources at Porsche’s Weissach engineering centre, Autocar says the plan aims to ensure maximum production efficiency and volume of scale on key components.
One of the most radical drivetrain reversals in Porsche’s history, which echoes a similar move made with the re-engineered Fiat 500 Hybrid, will result in the addition of petrol variants of the upcoming fifth-generation 718 EVs later this decade.
Porsche insiders told Autocar one of the challenges in developing ICE versions of the next-gen Boxster and Cayman EVs – as opposed to the reinstatement of ICE flagships of the current sports cars, which will merely be stop-gap models – was to ensure they matched the dynamic capability of their EV siblings.
Both the hard-top and soft-top 718s employ a load-bearing battery pack as a stressed member behind the two seats, providing structural rigidity and allowing for a flat floor, as well as what Porsche says is an “ultra-low centre of gravity”.
Porsche’s solution is reportedly a new structural floor section that bolts into the platform’s existing hard points, plus a redesigned rear bulkhead and subframe to support the engine and transmission, but the electric architecture also lacks a fuel tank and exhaust system, which will also need to be packaged into a completely new rear section.
It’s understood that diluted Euro 7 emissions regulations, which originally required oversized exhaust particulate filters and after-treatment hardware and would have spelled the end of Porsche’s 4.0-litre non-turbo flat six, plus the e-fuel exemption from the EU’s now-delayed 2035 ICE ban, now make the business case for the new petrol-powered sports cars viable.
“The electric Boxster and Cayman risked becoming a niche. Euro 7 changed the arithmetic,” one senior Porsche engineer told Autocar.