Porsche is in the midst of its electric revolution, with the upcoming Porsche Taycan sedan promising to be the new electric car to beat, and with more EV sports cars based on the Taycan sure to come. The question Porsche faces is now is what to do with the humble Boxster.
There’s been plenty of talk about the Taycan being expanded into a lineup of electric cars, including the sedan, some sort of Sport Turismo, and a coupe, that way Porsche can leave the Panamera, Macan, and 911 alone, at least for now.
But what about the Boxster? According to an outlet called Which Car in Australia, which spoke to the CEO of Porsche, Oliver Blume, the automaker will decide whether or not to take the Boxster electric by the end of this year. Here’s what Blume told Which Car:
“Because of the mid-engine it [a Boxster EV] could work. It depends on the development of the markets and the needs. We will decide this year in what direction we will develop the Boxster segment. When we do an electric cars it will be a platform specially developed for electric cars. Our opinion is that when you use a car that is designed for a petrol engine it doesn’t fit for an EV because of the construction of the body. When you play in the segment like Porsche to develop very sporty cars, it has to be tailor made for each type of engine.”
Back in 2011, Porsche was already toying with the idea of offering an electric Boxster, with the Boxster E. It packed its 29 kWh of batteries in the same layout as the gas-powered car, with a motor to each axle totaling an output of 241 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque. The car had a 107-mile range after nine hours of charging, and obviously never made it to production.
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But to keep the character of the Boxster alive, one would assume Porsche would have to keep the batteries located where the gasoline engine would traditionally go, so Blume’s comments about using an EV platform raise a lot of questions of just what exactly an electric Boxster could look like.
Blume’s chat with Which Car also revealed that the company hasn’t decided if it wants the upcoming hybrid 911, which isn’t due for a few more years, to be the range-topping model or not, and that the new EV crossover will be sold alongside the Macan for awhile, but maybe not share its name as it will be styled differently.
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Sounds like Porsche has a lot of decisions to make! Ultimately, the company’s strategy seems to be to offer an electric model in every segment they already compete in, so whether or not the Boxster name goes electric, it wouldn’t be surprising if we eventually get an electric sports car positioned under the 911 at some point anyway.
People freaked out about the Boxster going with a four-cylinder, I can’t imagine what will happen when it makes almost no noise at all.
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