The fate of whether the world gets to see, drive, and buy an electric Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman is about to be sealed.
The Drive can exclusively report a meeting is currently underway in Europe right now to make the final call on these EVs thanks to two sources. The meeting comes just over a week after reports that the electric sports cars might be killed off by what’s been referred to as “development hell.”
The stated reasoning, to date, has been “development delays and rising expenses,” which are all being taken into account by the new CEO, Michael Leiters, who stepped into the role on January 1 in place of former Porsche boss Oliver Blume.
Originally, the next-gen Boxster and Cayman were to be all electric. The current gas-powered models are already out of production. Porsche then walked back that decision and reportedly gas-powered models would, as an afterthought, factor back into the equation as a luxury item.
The electric sports car was to weigh less than 4,000 pounds, which posed an engineering challenge for a street-legal electric sports car with a heavy battery pack.
Likely set for the electric 718 twins, but coming to the Taycan later this year, Porsche developed fake gear shifts to mimic a transmission. The system would be a copy, in concept, to what is found in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, which Porsche was impressed with.
The electric 718 Boxster and Cayman twins would mark a further expansion of the German automaker’s electric lineup, which now includes the Taycan, Macan, and the upcoming Cayenne.
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