Porsche boss Oliver Blume has suggested to reporters that the next generation of Porsche Boxster and Cayman could be fully electric.
Speaking to Auto Express over the weekend, Blume has confirmed that the company is still debating when to switch their cars from combustion engine to electric power.
According to Auto Express, Blume said back in 2019 that the company would decide “in the next 12 months” whether to switch, but Blume confirmed to the site that the company has still not made the decision – but added that the decision will be made before the Northern Hemisphere Summer, and it looks as if a switch to electric is looking more likely than not.
“There is an opportunity that we will do the 718 electric but we are still in a concept period, where we haven’t decided yet,” said Blume, speaking to Auto Express after the company’s annual results conference.
“To go electric now we need future battery evolution. We will wait a couple of months more before we decide which concept we will use. But I think there is a positive potential to do this, and when we do the 718 electric it should be driven like a 911 and all the other sports cars.”
Blume added that, even though other carmakers are abandoning the small premium sports car market, Porsche won’t be, and that the Boxster and Cayman will be getting a new generation regardless of motor type. “We will continue with the model range of the 718,” he said. “That is clear. If it’s combustion engine or electric isn’t decided yet.”
Unlike some carmakers, Porsche is less eager to abandon the combustion engine, vacillating over the long-term value of ICE engines.
“I think we need both for the next years,” Blume continued, referring to both ICE and EV engines. “Therefore, we have flexibility in our product range to continue with the 911 on combustion engines, to continue with other cars on combustion engines, to produce hybrids with higher electric-only ranges, to introduce hybrids on the 911; there are still a lot of options for combustion engines.
“But coming from a sustainability perspective, the long-term future will be electromobility and I think drivers who have already driven electric cars are very convinced. I think we can convince the community as well, especially as we did it with the Taycan. We have much more ideas for our future electric cars. Our future electric cars are 100% Porsche.”
Porsche announced at the company’s annual press conference last week that Porsche had set itself a target of producing a CO2-neutral balance sheet across the entire value chain by 2030.
“We are committed to the Paris Agreement. The EU talks about 2050, many competitors about 2040, but it’s not about record times, it’s about responsibility. Every step counts.”
Already, production at Porsche’s German factories at Zuffenhausen and Leipzig are CO2-neutral thanks to the use of renewable energy and biogas, and the Taycan Cross Turismo will be the first vehicle from the company that will be CO2-neutral throughout its use phase.
Additionally, Porsche is moving to demand carbon neutrality from its suppliers, including and specifically battery suppliers.
“Anyone who develops battery cells for us must manufacture them exclusively with sustainable energy,” Blume said.
“Batteries are still produced in a very energy-intensive way. By obliging our suppliers to use sustainable energy, the carbon footprint will improve significantly. And the battery itself will be more than 90% recyclable in ten years, at the latest. At the same time, we will reduce polluting substances such as cobalt in batteries in the future.”
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.