- Porsche’s 718 Boxster Electric has been spied testing for the first time in months.
- The zero-emissions, two-seat ragtop has dropped almost all of its heavy disguise.
- Single motor comes standard, but available bi-motor creates first AWD Boxster.
More than two years have passed since we last spied a Boxster Electric prototype testing. It’s almost like Porsche forgot about it. And there must be some suits at Stuttgart who would rather forget about it, because the world in which the EV sports car is about to debut is very different to the one Porsche imagined when it green lighted the project more than five years ago.
We’ll get to that problem in a minute, but for now let’s take a look at these fresh spy shots because they show the Boxster EV with almost non camo for the first time ever. Sure, it’s still got some misleading stickers around the front and rear lights and rear quarters, but we can see the true shapes of those lights and the heavy disguise has gone from the bumpers.
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That means we can see this Boxster has the same vertical, active cooling slats in its front grille that Porsche has already deployed in the 911 GTS and Turbo. Lesser models, and their Cayman EV counterparts, are likely to have a simpler grille design, as the base 911 Carrera and Carrera S have. Shots from the rear showing a diffuser panel and lack of exhaust tailpipes confirm Porshe is sticking to its EV plan for the two-seater – for now, at least.
Besides the grille, there’s another indicator that we’re looking at a hotter version of the Boxster Electric. Previous spy shots showed a digital gauge cluster and conventional internal door handles. But this car has fabric, loop-style handles of the kind usually reserved for cars like the 911 GT3 or the old Cayman GT4 and its Boxster Spyder brother.
Choose One Or Two Motors
Intel from sources close to Porsche suggests base cars will get a single motor driving the rear wheels, but the big news is the rumored availability of dual-motor powertrains in more expensive versions that will give the Boxster and Cayman their first all-wheel drive options.
If Porsche’s GT4 e-Performance racer concept is any guide, expect up to 604 hp (612 PS / 450 kW) for the hottest AWD cars and the option of a virtual paddle-shift transmission, a feature recently added to the Taycan lineup. A T-shaped battery mounted in the transmission tunnel and behind the seats keeps the floorpan low and replicates the weight distribution of a typical mid-engined, ICE-powered car.
EV First, Gas Later
The Boxster and Cayman Electric go in sale in 2027, but a couple of years after that, they’ll be joined by combustion versions, potentially limited to the top of the lineup. That was never part of the plan, but Porsche’s hand has been forced by a dramatic slowdown in EV sales.
The Boxster and Cayman Electric were conceived in the late 2010s, a period when Porsche’s Taycan was still enjoying its honeymoon glow and the car industry was projecting electric cars would soon relegate old-fashioned combustion vehicles to a sideshow act. Now, in 2026, it’s true that EV sales are riding high, though not universally.
Taycan To Tap-Out?
One in four mass-market cars sold in Europe is now electric and the numbers are growing. But luxury buyers and American drivers aren’t buying EVs. They want gas cars. The Taycan is tanking and could reportedly die soon, but since it was too late to scrap the Boxster and Cayman Electric, which have the added complication of sharing their platform and hardware with Audi’s upcoming TT replacement, Porsche opted to re-engineer them for combustion power instead.
Would you buy an electric Boxster or is Porsche setting itself up for a massive fall? Leave a comment and let us know.
