New Porsche 718 Boxster will be a fully-electric sports car

• All-new underpinnings
• Will be available as Boxster convertible and Cayman coupe
• Due to arrive in 2024

Those worried that the driver’s car won’t survive the transition to electric power should fear not, as Porsche is looking to make the next generation of its small sports car an EV. The electric Porsche 718 Boxster has already been spotted testing before its expected debut in 2024, and looks to become one of the most thrilling electric cars to arrive over the next few years.

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The Stuttgart-based brand has been spied testing the upcoming electric sports car on the streets of Germany, giving us our first glimpse of what we can expect the electric 718 to look like. Despite the heavy camouflage, we can easily spot design elements taken from Porsche’s first electric car, the Taycan, such as a full-width rear light bar, slim front headlights, and alloy wheels with aerodynamic trim pieces.

As before, the new car will be available in convertible Boxster and hard-top coupe Cayman forms, however, the plug-in 718 will be slightly longer and wider than the outgoing model in order to incorporate large lithium-ion batteries. 

Unlike the upcoming Macan EV SUV, the electric 718 won’t sit on Volkswagen Group’s new Premium Platform Electric (PPE) underpinnings – nor will it utilise the same J1 architecture as the Taycan and Audi e-tron GT. Instead, the electric 718 will benefit from all-new underpinnings, adapted from Porsche’s Mission R concept car.

Set not only to underpin the 718 but also an all-electric version of the Porsche 911, this new setup allows for battery sizes of at least 82kWh, which should give the electric 718 a range of around 300 miles. 

Unlike most electric cars that mount the batteries underneath the floor, Porsche has developed a new layout in which the battery packs are mounted behind the driver in the same place an engine would sit in a mid-engined car; this means the driver can sit much lower than they could otherwise, thus increasing the connection between them and the road.

The Mission R concept gets a dual-electric motor setup with 1,017bhp; you can expect output to be significantly less for the 718 though, with the car likely utilising a rear-mounted single motor to keep weight to a minimum. Of course, high performance models will almost certainly be offered, with more power and increased aero to improve lap times on the track.

So how long do we have to wait? Well, Porsche’s next EV – the all-new Macan – isn’t expected to arrive until at least the latter stages of 2023, so we’re unlikely to see an unveiling of the new 718 until well into 2024. While it’s hard to pinpoint pricing at this stage, you can bet the new car will incur a significant premium over the current Cayman and Boxster’s circa-£50,000 base price.

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