Sources close to Porsche have told the publication Porsche is investing around €500 million (about $566M) at its main plant in Zuffenhausen. The factory needs to be retooled in order to get the all-electric Boxster and Cayman ready to hit the assembly line. Both will enter production in 2023 when another EV is scheduled to arrive – the Macan built in Leipzig without a combustion engine.

The electric sports car duo is allegedly based on the Premium Platform Electric that Porsche and Audi have been working on for several years. The company with the Four Rings will be the first to introduce a PPE-based production model as the Q6 E-Tron will be unveiled before the year’s end. Nothing is official at this point, but Automobilewoche claims the electric 718 models will be able to cover around 249 miles (400 kilometers) on a single charge. However, these are sports cars and therefore owners will want to push them hard. Consequently, that will have a negative impact on range.

The electric Boxster and Cayman will be built in the same factory where Porsche assembles the 911. The latter will be the company’s last car to lose the combustion engine. In the meantime, a hybrid variant is coming soon as a necessity to meet stricter emissions regulations. It’s said to become the most powerful 911 of all time, but it’ll also be the heaviest after adding a bulky battery pack.

Porsche won’t entirely switch to EVs this decade since an all-electric 911 is scheduled to arrive after 2030.

Source: Automobilewoche

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Some will be surprised to hear Porsche has been toying around with the idea of a purely electric version of its entry-level sports car for at least a decade. In 2011, the Boxster E concept was unveiled with dual electric motors producing a combined output of 242 horsepower and 540 Newton-meters (398 pound-feet). The reason why we are bringing a ten-year-old concept up is the peeps from Zuffenhausen are now working on a new Boxster-based EV concept.

In an interview with Car and Driver, Porsche executive board member for development, Michael Steiner, revealed he is currently trying to convince company execs to get the stamp of approval for an all-electric Boxster. A concept is being developed and could be shown sooner or later to preview a road-going model, much like the Mission E unveiled in fall 2015 paved the way for the Taycan that went on sale towards the end of 2019.

Interestingly the electric sports car is being developed on a platform that has not been announced yet. It means the zero-emissions Boxster will not be related to the Porsche Taycan / Audi E-Tron GT and their J1 platform. At the same time, it will be mechanically different than the Macan EV / Q6 E-Tron with their PPE architecture.

An all-electric Boxster convertible and/or Cayman coupe would still be a sports car first and foremost, which means the weight is of utmost importance. Batteries are still heavy and fitting a large pack to achieve a long range would have a negative impact on the vehicle’s weight and consequently on performance.

Parent company Volkswagen Group is very much interested in the long-awaited adoption of solid-state batteries, but these are still a few years away. They’re lighter and more compact than the regular lithium-ion batteries and are expected to (eventually) have lower production costs, albeit it will be a while. It is too soon to say whether Porsche is eyeing solid-state battery tech for its Boxster EV or it’s cooking up something different, but whatever it is, the engineers are certainly looking to keep weight in check.

Chances are Porsche will follow the same strategy it will use for the Macan by selling version both gas and electric versions of the Boxster and Cayman. Before that happens, prototypes of the EV are currently being tested and C&D says a concept could be shown soon.

Source: Car and Driver

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