The Porsche Boxster was born in 1996 to become the access model for Porsche, which at that time was mired in an economic crisis that had been going on for a long time. Although the Boxster shared many of its components with the 911, the truth is that it had a more modest approach than its big brother.
This philosophy was maintained with the arrival of its closed version, the Cayman, which made an appearance in 2005 in the hands of the second generation of the Boxster. These models featured a mid-engine configuration, more dynamically balanced than the outdated “all-rear” design of the long-lived 911.
However, Porsche always artificially kept the Cayman/Boxster below the “nine-eleven”, as it never enjoyed such powerful or radical versions because, thanks to its better mechanical distribution, under equal conditions the youngest “would eat” the myth.
This focus has been diluted over the years: the Cayman/Boxster, now renamed the 718 Cayman/Boxster, has versions between 420 hp (Cayman GT4, Boxster Spyder) and 500 hp (Cayman GT4 RS) capable of overshadowing models like the 911 GT3 (510 hp), although they are still far from the 911 Turbo (581 hp) and Turbo S (650 hp).
The 718 will be the third electric Porsche after the Taycan and Macan
The barrier between the two will come down with the arrival of the next generation of the 718 Cayman/Boxster, which will become 100% electric. Because the 911 will still have internal combustion engines (by 2030 it will be the only model of the brand that will not have been fully electrified), there is no longer any fear that they will be cannibalized.
The new Porsche 718 Cayman/Boxster will be launched in 2024. As with other electric sports cars, the batteries will not be located under the floor, but behind the seats, in the rear compartment. This configuration, already seen in the original Tesla Roadster, will allow a low body to be maintained with optimal weight distribution.
Aesthetically, the new model will be inspired by the Mission R prototype, presented a few months ago. According to some German media, its access version will be rear-wheel drive and will yield 400 hp, far exceeding the 299 hp of the current “basic” model… and the 385 hp of the 911 Carrera. The most powerful variants are expected to add a second motor on the front axle and go beyond 650 hp, now equaling the 911 Turbo S. Initially, the autonomy will be in all cases greater than 400 km WLTP.
