Porsche Has A Major Decision To Make This Year

Sep. 05, 2019 4:35 AM ET by Ian Wright Sports Cars / Comments

This will not please the Porsche hardcore.

Technology moves on with scant regard for the enthusiast that likes things as they are. Porsche has attempted to keep things as mechanical as possible to a point, but it looks like the time has come for the all-electric drivetrain to find its way into one of its red-blooded sports cars. Porsche wants 50 percent of its sales to be made up of electric or electrified cars by 2025, and is well on its way with the reveal of the Taycan, but the all-electric sports car is going to be the trickiest to do due to the weight.

Porsche bosses are favoring the 718 Cayman to be its first battery-powered sports car with Auto Express reporting that the decision will be made over the next year.

Porsche

Lutz Meschke, Porsche's deputy chairman, admitted: "In the sports car segment we have to think about a pure electric car." He claims an all-electric 911 would 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."

We wonder how much of that difficulty in taking the 911 all-electric would be in pushback from the extensive and loud Porsche hardcore. The 911 is already due to get hybrid and mild-hybrid versions, which will introduce electrification more gradually to the Porsche hardcore. In that sense, it absolutely makes sense to go with the 718 Cayman or Boxster as the first all-out electric sports car from the German automaker.

Porsche

It's impossible to doubt that Porsche has to serve up an all-electric sports car at this point, and the company knows it. Porsche needs class-leading sports cars to hold its brand equity, and all-electric is set to be the next big thing for the segment. At least, in positive publicity terms.

"A pure-electric sports car would not only be important for China but also Europe and USA markets, as sports cars are the heart of our brands and we cannot sit only on SUV cars," Meschke said, "We have to do something in the direction of our sports cars and I think the 718 is the right direction."

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Porsche Has A Major Decision To Make This Year

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Porsche Has A Major Decision To Make This Year

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