918 Spyder

Make
Porsche
Segment
Compact

Porsche is maintaining an aggressive agenda ranging from developing a charging infrastructure with parent company Volkswagen Group, buying an increased stake in Rimac, and begin the use of synthetic fuels by next year. These things require an immense amount of time, not to mention the regular development of new vehicles. With the launch of the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo now underway, the brand's electric vehicle expansion will continue. Next up will be a fully-electric Macan sometime next year, followed by (fingers crossed) an all-new 718 Boxster and Cayman.

Previous reports indicate the 718 series will also adopt full electrification. But what about a 918 Spyder successor? Will it ever happen?

Probably, yes, but not before 2025. Speaking to Autocar, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume clarified the project is not dead but rather delayed because it's not a priority. Electrifying the road car lineup is the main focus. Back in 2019, Blume also admitted a 918 successor was in the cards, but wouldn't appear before 2025 for a different reason: battery technology was not where it needed to be.

Fast-forward to today and those advancements are happening at a blistering pace, but developing such a limited production hypercar is a costly endeavor and the business case simply isn't there for now. This also presents an opportunity.

See, the original 918 successor plan reportedly called for an advanced plug-in hybrid powertrain coupled with a 1.6-liter F1-derived gasoline engine. With this no longer happening, Porsche should be able to bypass a combustion engine entirely and aim for an all-electric hypercar instead. Post-2025, battery technology and other lightweight advancements should be ready. Porsche will also be in a prime position to obtain battery hardware from Rimac.

If you recall, Rimac founder and CEO Mate Rimac has gone on record several times stating his company's future is in battery R&D rather than building ultra-limited hypercars. Serving as a hardware supplier, Rimac could be the missing link Porsche needs to build the best battery-electric hypercar possible. Good things come to those who wait.