New spy shots claiming to show the electric successor to the wildly successful Porsche 718 Boxster have surfaced, giving a first look at Stuttgart’s highly anticipated third EV model line.
The next-generation Porsche 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster are set to adopt a bespoke electric sports car platform designed to mimic the current combustion cars’ mid-engined characters and which could go on to underpin future Audi and Lamborghini models.
It has been confirmed that Porsche intends for the next-generation 718 duo to be offered exclusively with electric drivetrains, and that it intends for them to be on sale by the middle of the decade. It is likely the electric two-seaters will be the third electric model line in the Porsche line-up, following several derivatives of the Taycan and the arrival of the Porsche Macan EV in 2024.
These new images show what looks to be the fifth-generation, or ‘983’, Boxster in prototype form but with seemingly production-ready styling – at least at the front and rear. There are no obvious giveaways to a zero-emission powertrain, but Autocar’s spies say the exhaust outlet is a red herring, and the visible headlights and rear light bar are designs shared with the Porsche Taycan and upcoming Porsche Macan EV.
But beyond that, it is difficult to gauge just how different the electric Boxster will be from today’s petrol-powered proposition. Porsche’s earlier Mission R concept gave clues as to the company’s plans for electric sports cars, and indeed the lighting details seen here bear a resemblance to that car, but the side profile is much closer to the Boxster which has been on sale since 2016.
Porsche declined to comment on the pictures, but with a projected launch in two years time, it is reasonable to suggest that test mules would be hitting public roads at around this time.
The company is aiming for pure-EVs to account for 50% of its global sales in 2025 and 80% in 2030, but has yet to confirm launch dates for pure-electric equivalents to the Porsche 911 sports car and Porsche Cayenne SUV.
Using a novel battery arrangement referred to as the ‘e-core’ layout, Porsche’s entry-level sports EVs will offer as low a seating position and centre of gravity as possible, in line with their dynamic billing.
Porsche has admitted that the Mission R reflects work being done in parallel in the firm’s design studio on future EVs, hinting that certain styling elements will in due course be seen on production models. The car is also close in dimensions to the current 718 Cayman and Boxster.