Say Goodbye to Fuel – Engine Porsche 718: Official Sales Halt, All

A piece of news today marks the end of an era: Porsche has officially closed the global order channels for the fuel-powered 718 Boxster and Cayman.

This decision is not actually sudden.

As early as the beginning of 2024, a strict new EU regulation forced the 718 to exit the European market. Now, this farewell has extended to the whole world. Although Porsche will no longer accept new orders, the production lines in Zuffenhausen and Osnabruck will still operate for some time.

Their current task is to complete all the backlogged orders. It is said that this work will not be finished until 2026. It is certain that the last batch of fuel-powered 718s rolling off the production line will become the target of the collector's market from the moment of delivery.

Actually, according to Porsche's original plan, the fuel-powered 718 should have ended its production earlier. It was just some unplanned variables that gave this popular sports car one more year of life. Anyway, what's meant to come will always come.

The end of the fuel-powered 718 is its all-electric version.

Out with the old, in with the new

The replacement rhythm of Porsche's 718 product line has actually been disrupted for a long time. This is because two originally unrelated problems unexpectedly collided. On one hand, the fuel-powered version had to exit the market ahead of schedule due to external regulations.

On the other hand, the highly anticipated all-electric successor failed to arrive on time due to its own and supply chain issues. Let's first look at the fuel-powered version. The most direct reason for the exit of the fuel-powered 718 is the No.

155 Cybersecurity Regulation (UN R155) issued and enforced by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. This regulation requires that car manufacturers must establish and certify a complete "cybersecurity management system" throughout the entire life cycle of the vehicle. This is a concept of "security by design", and it is precisely an insurmountable obstacle for the 718, which was born in the "old era".

2010 Cayman

The electronic and electrical architecture of the just-discontinued generation of the 718 (codenamed 982) was developed more than a decade ago. At that time, the entire industry had almost no concept of today's systematic cybersecurity standards. Its underlying architecture was not designed to meet such requirements at all.

To make this platform meet the new regulations, what is needed is far more than just a software upgrade. It requires a "major operation" involving the reconstruction of the control unit and the vehicle network. According to industry reports, the investment for this transformation is almost half of the budget for developing a new car.

Facing such a high cost for a model that is about to be replaced, Porsche made a rational business decision: abandon the transformation and invest all resources in the research and development of the next-generation model. If the story ended here, it would just be a normal product iteration case. But the complexity of the problem lies in the fact that the highly anticipated all-electric successor is also late.

Rendering of the all-electric 718, Image source: Autocar

In 2024, Porsche's battery supplier Northvolt got into financial difficulties, and Porsche also encountered some problems with the power system. As a result, they had to postpone the release of this all-electric sports car, which was originally scheduled for last year. The latest schedule points to a release in 2025 and a market launch in 2026.

Well, the time is almost here. All signs indicate that Porsche is accelerating its progress to ensure that this highly anticipated new car can debut on time. The most direct evidence is that the all-electric 718 test cars with less and less camouflage are frequently appearing in the lenses around the world.

Spy photo of the all-electric 718, Image source: Carscoops

At the Nurburgring Nordschleife in Porsche's hometown of Germany, people have seen the all-electric 718 Cayman. Although the car body is still camouflaged, we can still see that it continues the classic silhouette and dynamic posture of a mid-engine sports car.

Spy photo of the all-electric 718, Image source: motor1 Although it has become an all-electric model, the front of the Cayman is still as low as before.

The design of the light group clearly shows the influence of the Taycan. It is equipped with an active opening and closing grille in the front, and the fastback rear is equipped with a small active rear spoiler and more slender taillights. Overall, the all-electric 718 continues the classic while integrating more modern electrification elements.

In China, which is crucial to the electric vehicle market, there have even been sightings of an all-electric 718 Boxster test car with a green license plate. Spy photos show that the overall silhouette of this car is basically the same as that of the Cayman, especially the style of the headlights at the front, which is highly recognizable. The rear of the convertible version is very flat, and the long and narrow LED taillight group is very neat.

These road tests that are synchronized globally and penetrate into different markets indicate that this all-electric sports car has entered the final global verification stage before mass production. Judging from the currently known information, the foundation of the all-electric 718 is quite solid. It will be built on the PPE platform jointly developed by Porsche and Audi.

Like its sibling, the Taycan, it will adopt an 800V architecture. In terms of power, Porsche plans to offer two versions: single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive. Its power performance is bound to comprehensively surpass that of the previous fuel-powered models.

Of course, for a Porsche, handling is the real core.

In order to replicate as much as possible the mid-engine rear-wheel drive driving experience that the fuel-powered 718 is famous for, Porsche engineers have concentrated the battery pack behind the cockpit to simulate the weight distribution and the overall center of gravity of a traditional mid-engine vehicle. Yes, it's a bit like the SC01 sports car from Gongjiangpai.

It can be said that Porsche is doing its best to solve the age-old problem: how to preserve the pure driving pleasure in the era of electrification.

Different from the Taycan, the all-electric 718 has no way out

Just like Nokia, which ultimately failed to answer the question "What exactly is a mobile phone in the smart era?", Porsche now has to answer a question that is also crucial to its survival. Because speed and performance have always been just the entry tickets for Porsche, not its real trump card. When an ordinary electric vehicle can achieve a 0 - 100km/h acceleration in the 3-second range, the more profound question that Porsche needs to answer is: Where will the "soul" of the brand be placed after the disappearance of the internal combustion engine?

For a long time, the "driving pleasure" defined by Porsche is a high-density sensory experience mediated by precision machinery. It is the unique heartbeat and roar of the flat-six engine behind, the clear physical feedback of each gear shift of the PDK transmission, and the continuous dialogue between the vehicle's posture and the road surface information transmitted through the chassis and the steering wheel. This game and communication between humans and machines based on physical laws together constitute the core charm of Porsche.

And electrification has, to a large extent, cut off this traditional path of communication. When those familiar sensory stimuli are stripped away, a more arduous task is on the table: how to create a similarly engaging and uniquely Porsche driving experience with software and algorithms under a new set of physical rules? From the Taycan, which is also an all-electric model, we can see some directions of Porsche's efforts.

In addition to the already determined mid-mounted battery layout, which is to defend the first line of handling at the physical level, the more important work lies in the software and electronic control systems. For example, Porsche's mature Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus) system, through the electronically controlled rear differential lock and precise braking of the rear wheels, can distribute power more quickly and actively in the electric era, making the vehicle more flexible in corners than a mechanical differential lock. At the same time, Porsche's Active Suspension Management (PASM) system will also inevitably evolve, using the instantaneous response ability of the electric motor to achieve more intelligent and delicate chassis control.

Porsche's R & D director Michael Steiner has publicly promised that Porsche will provide the new 718 series with "braking and handling polished by motorsports", which can give users "the feeling of a real sports car".

Spy photo of the all-electric 718, Image source: Carscoops However, even if Porsche thinks it has solved this problem, it has only completed half of the challenge. The greater challenge comes from the outside.

In the past few years when Porsche was buried in the research and development of the all-electric 718, the global automotive market landscape, especially in China, has undergone earth-shaking changes. This change has been directly reflected in Porsche's financial reports. Since entering 2025, Porsche's operating pressure has increased sharply.

Its global sales in the first half of the year declined by nearly 9%. In its two major core markets - Germany and China, sales declined by 23% and 28% respectively. The operating profit and sales return rate have almost returned to the level of a decade ago.

In the Chinese market, what the all-electric 718 will face in the future is not only whether the driving experience of the product itself can be recognized by the market, but also direct competition from Chinese brands. These new high-performance electric vehicles also have excellent performance, avant-garde design, and even better intelligent experiences, but their prices are much lower than those of Porsche. When the performance threshold has been lowered to an unprecedented level, it has become an unknown whether consumers are still willing to pay for Porsche's brand premium and the driving pleasure it defines.

The replacement of the 718 is therefore of great significance. Unlike the Taycan, which can make some compromises in driving pleasure due to its four-door sedan body style, as Porsche's purest entry-level sports car, it has no way out. It not only has to prove itself at the technical level, but also fight its way out in the commercial battlefield.

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