Porsche's next Boxster and Cayman will be electric from the outset, and the company has confirmed there will be no petrol versions of the new generation. The two-seaters break cover next year, with 2028 the first full year of production.
The unusual part is where the battery sits. Instead of under the floor, Porsche has mounted it behind the seats, in the space the combustion engine occupied in the old cars, an arrangement the company says preserves its mid-engine character.
A battery where the engine used to be
The pack consists of three modules arranged across two levels, positioned where the four-cylinder or flat-six once lived, Robert Meier, head of vehicle architecture, has revealed.
The layout has a measurable effect on balance: 55.2 percent of the car's weight sits over the rear axle. That is not a perfect 50:50 split, but it is closer to the ideal than the outgoing petrol car managed, which is a genuine achievement for a heavy-battery EV.
Porsche also says the rear-mounted pack improves structural rigidity and forms part of the crash structure. Sitting the battery behind the seats rather than beneath the floor should also let occupants sit lower, which matters in a car sold on its driving position.
Weight and the Taycan's fake gears
No official kerb weight has been published. Auto Express has reported a figure of around 1,700 kg, just under 3,750 lb, but that remains unconfirmed. For context, a previous-generation Cayman S weighed 2,988 lb in US specification, so even the optimistic estimate represents a substantial gain.
The new cars will also inherit the Taycan's optional E-Shift system, which simulates gear changes and engine sounds to make acceleration feel more familiar to drivers used to combustion sports cars, Top Gear magazine has learned from Porsche.
That tells you something about the brief. Porsche knows the soundtrack and shift rhythm of a petrol engine are a large part of the 718's appeal, and it is using software to approximate what the hardware can no longer provide. Whether simulation can stand in for a flat-six is the open question; the cars will have to prove themselves on the road.
No petrol fallback this time
Porsche had earlier hinted at combustion derivatives of the next 718, but the company's latest product strategy covers the electric models only. The new generation goes on sale without petrol equivalents, a cleaner break than some enthusiasts wanted.
The cars are expected to keep the compact proportions that have defined the Boxster and Cayman for decades, so this is not a size-driven reinvention.
Buyers who want a petrol Porsche two-seater are pointed at the 911, which the company's chief executive Michael Leiters has said will never be electric. Certain 911 versions will even keep a manual gearbox.
What is still unknown
Porsche has not announced pricing, official specifications, range figures or battery capacity for either car. The exact reveal date next year has not been confirmed either.
The gamble is clear enough. Porsche is betting that an unusual battery position, familiar proportions and simulated combustion drama will convince sceptics that an electric 718 can still be a proper sports car. The weight penalty is real, and traditionalists in the combustion segment are running out of alternatives, so the stakes for Porsche's fundamentals are higher than the acceleration figures suggest.
