Porsche is mulling the idea of hybrid or plug-in hybrid 718 Caymans and Boxsters in the next generation. Actually, the company has been mulling the idea for a while now, with a few prototypes built, but it's waiting to see what technology holds in the next half-decade.
“We have prototypes of the 718 running in electric now, and a hybrid prototype is being built,” Porsche chairman Oliver Blume told Autocar. “If you look to the next generation of those cars, it is possible, although it is not yet clear whether it would be plug-in hybrid or hybrid.”
The thought from Porsche is that lithium-ion batteries are not quite where it would like to them to be to warrant a 718 that is fun enough while also having enough range for the standard Porsche buyer. Right now we’re looking at about 186 miles (300 km) of range without changing the current architecture.
The new plan would have the 718 brothers on the company’s new PPE architecture that will underpin the Taycan all-electric sports car. Autocar says the new developments are already engineered for the 911.
The problem is the pace of change in technology and that in different countries' rules.
“For at least two to three years we will have both,” said Blume of the hybrid Macan crossover, which is following the same path. “At that point, we can decide whether to upgrade the combustion engines to the new Euro 7 standard or go full electric. The pace that countries are changing is different — China wants electric now, Russia is in less of a hurry, for instance.”
A 48-volt mild hybrid system is also on the table, which would give extra performance when needed and more efficiency when not. Those cars would not have an all-electric mode, though the plug-in might.
Studies from parent brand Volkswagen predict both energy density and volume will be up substantially by 2025. So, if we don’t see one by then, it’ll be soon after.
If this would have been planned 10 years ago, any enthusiast worth his or her salt would have said “no way.” But now we’re to the point of almost no compromises in these partially electrified cars — in fact, about half the time they’re better than their all-gasoline counterparts. And with Porsche doing the engineering, we’re betting on the latter here.
H/T: Autocar
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