- Porsche has been spotted testing an electric 718 Cayman
- Expected to debut in late 2026, it will trail an electric 718 Boxster by about a year
- The gas-powered 718 Boxster and Cayman end production in 2025
Porsche fans will soon have to get used to the idea of an electric sports car from the brand.
Porsche is close to launching its first electric sports car, but rather than start with the iconic 911, Porsche will initially add battery power to the 718 Boxster and Cayman. A prototype for the electric Cayman has now been spotted for the first time.
Prototypes for the electric Boxster have been spotted for more than a year, suggesting that it will be the first to arrive. A debut later this year is expected, which would likely result in the electric Cayman arriving sometime in 2026.
Porsche engineers have attempted to disguise the electric Cayman prototype by adopting the side window design of the 911, but the rest of the car shares design details with the electric Boxster prototype. The design was first previewed by the Porsche Mission R concept unveiled during the 2021 Munich auto show. The concept’s reveal also signaled Porsche’s intention to develop an electric sports car for racing, the hardware for which Porsche is testing in a separate prototype known as the 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance.
Porsche Mission R concept
Both the road car and any prototype are expected to eschew the modular skateboard-style platform common to most EVs, and instead go with a dedicated design with the batteries in a T-shape section filling the center tunnel and the area behind the seats. Such a layout enables designers to keep the height of the car low while delivering weight distribution similar to a mid-engine car. Maserati did the same for the GranTurismo Folgore.
The electric Cayman is expected to offer the choice of rear- or all-wheel drive. The Mission R concept had a dual-motor all-wheel-drive system delivering 670 hp in a race mode and a temporary 1,073 hp in a mode designed for brief qualifying runs. The concept also featured a single-speed transmission that, depending on the gear ratio fitted, allowed for a top speed of more than 186 mph.
Porsche Mission R development
Even at that lower limit of performance, the electric 718 Cayman might start to step on the toes of the 911, especially if Porsche achieves anything close to a rumored 3,650-pound maximum curb weight. To differentiate the two cars, the 911 will retain a gas engine for as long as regulations allow, helped along with the adoption of hybrid technology, as we’ve already seen in the 2025 911 Carrera GTS range.
It’s too early to talk range, but the Mission R concept had an 80-kwh battery estimated to deliver around 250 miles of range.
2026 Porsche 718 Boxster EV spy shots – Photo credit: Baldauf
Fans of the current gas-powered 718 Boxster and Cayman will need to hurry up and purchase one, as Porsche in mid-2024 said both cars would cease production in 2025, with the rumored date to be sometime in October.
However, with the recent slowdown in EV growth experienced across the industry, but particularly in the premium sector, Porsche now plans to keep selling gas-powered versions of other models a lot longer than previously planned. Most of the gas models were scheduled to bow out by the end of this decade. In the case of the top-selling Macan, Porsche is rumored to be considering the development of a new gas version where previously none was planned. It’s possible the automaker could also do this with the 718 Boxster and Cayman in the future.
