Nobody has officially confirmed that the next-generation 2023 Porsche 718 Cayman and Boxster will be electric or even hybrid, but a new report is saying that they could have 400 horsepower, a figure that will put them well ahead of the current Cayman GTS and pretty damn close to the 414-horsepower Cayman GT4.
If the Next-Gen Porsche 718 Goes Electric or Hybrid, It’ll Be Impressively Powerful and Fast
Of the models mentioned above, the Cayman, Cayman S, and GTS are all powered by a 2.5-liter turbo-four while the GT4 and Spyder are powered by a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter six-banger. Lesser models will get you to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds while the GT4 and Spyder make the sprint in 4.2 seconds.
Oh, and by the way, just for fun, the next-gen 718 Cayman might be faster than the base Porsche 911 Carrera – it delivers 379 horsepower and will sprint to 60 mph in four seconds flat. Interesting times we’re living in, don’t you think?
Electric Porsche 718 Have been Testing in Prototype Form
Back in April of 2019, Porsche’s own Dr. Oliver Blume told Autocar that the company does, in fact, have electric prototypes of the 718 running and that a hybrid prototype was in the works. However, he refused to confirm the next-gen 718 would be hybrid or electric:
“ If you look to the next generation of those cars, it is possible, although it is not clear whether it would be plug-in hybrid or hybrid," said Blume.
In September, Porsche board member Lutz Meschke told Auto Express that “battery concepts} were already in the testing phase as were body styles. The more important bit from that interview was that a final decision about the next-gen 718 would come in 12 months – roughly September 2020.
Of course it should be noted that nobody has spotted any of these prototypes, so you do have to take that with a grain of salt, but the current generation (982 Gen) has been on the market since 2016, so we’re only three years in and Porsche is under no real stress to rush things. In fact, that’s the last thing it will do, we’ll be lucky if we see the electric 718 before the end of 2020.
An Electric Porsche 718 Will Share DNA in a Big Way – Maybe Even with the Japanese
If Porsche does indeed introduce the next-gen 718 as a performance EV, then we’re going to see the small sportscar market shift into a new era.
That’s not even a joke, either. In the same interview with Auto Express that I mentioned earlier, Meschke said “An 911 will be too difficult. But for the 718 I think that it would be a very good step for the future, and it would be on a completely new platform that we can discuss and share with other brands.” And, those words came not that long after Supra engineer, Tetsuya Tada, express extreme desire to partner with Porsche for his next sports car, which would be the Toyota MR2 – the third brother to be risen from the dead.
Final Thoughts
As of right now, there’s little in terms of confirmation, but the writing is on the wall. If Porsche is testing electric prototypes, batteries, and body styles of the next-gen 718, then you better believe that it’s fully committed. You can put even more faith into the whole concept now that reports are starting to share light on power output and driveline configuration.