Is This the Beginning of the End for Gas-Powered Porsches?

Although most major car brands have embraced EVs with open arms, a few have remained skeptical. Toyota is probably the most steadfast in its resistance to electrification — the brand offers just one BEV in the U.S. — but Porsche isn’t far behind.

The Stuttgart marque does have its ever-expaning fully electric Taycan line, and Porsche recently began offering an electric version of its Macan SUV, but the brand’s legendary sports cars have thus far avoided full battery electrification as the brand has poured money into biofuels as an environmentally friendly alternative.

But Porsche’s strategy may finally be shifting, as the brand has now confirmed that it is eliminating the gas engine options for some of its popular sports cars.

Bye-bye gas-powered Boxster & Cayman

While the 911 will forever be Porsche’s flagship, the 718 has no shortage of fans of its own. More of the everyman Porsche sports car, the 718 is cheaper, smaller and not as extreme, yet with its rear-mid-engine/RWD layout, it’s every bit as fun to drive — perhaps even more so.

Porsche

But a big change is coming to the 718, and I don’t think Porsche fans are going to be happy about it. According to a new interview with Porsche production manager Albrecht Reimol in German publication Automobilwoche, as reported by Car & Driver, the gas-powered 718 is being discontinued in mid-2025.

That means both the Boxster convertible and Cayman coupe, which share the 718 platform, will cease to exist in just one year’s time. That is, honestly, pretty hard to believe.

After all, it’s not like the entry-level sports cars are unpopular. Just today, Porsche released its sales report for the first half of 2024, and the two models saw a combined growth of 8 percent. Compare that to deliveries of the electric Taycan, which fell 51 percent in the same frame, and you might start to question Porsche’s logic a bit.

Photo by Will Sabel Courtney for Gear Patrol

Porsche already has replacements lined up for the axed 718, and that will be an all-electric 718, which should arrive around the same time as the ICE cars’ discontinuation. It, too, will be available in either a coupe or convertible, presumably called the Cayman and Boxster.

Is the gas-powered 911 next on the chopping block?

With Porsche eliminating the gas engines from a very popular sports car that sells well, you may become worried that the 911, arguably the most legendary sports car ever made, could also soon become electrified.

But I wouldn’t worry too much about that.

Photo by Will Sabel Courtney for Gear Patrol

The 911 is an institution. It is Porsche’s best-selling non-SUV by far (the company sold about 2.5 times as many 911s as 718s last year, despite the price difference), and its success and is so directly tied to its flat-six engine powerplant that it’s hard to imagine Porsche just throwing away all the goodwill they’ve built up with the 911 over 60 years.

Plus, as previously mentioned, Porsche clearly sees potential in biofuels as a way to skirt future environmental laws and will likely hold out against electrification for as long as legally possible.

That said, it’s probable that we’ll see some kind of 911 EV somewhere down the road — that’s just the way the industry winds are blowing. The electric 718 will likely function as a sort of real-world testing ground for Porsche, where the brand can take customer feedback — both positive and negative — and use that to inform what a future electric 911 might look like.

Porsche

And, of course, earlier this year, Porsche debuted the first-ever hybrid 911, the 2025 911 Carrera GTS, and it packs some pretty impressive specs that even purists have a hard time arguing against.

I don’t think now is the time to start panicking about the death of the gas-powered 911 — that day is likely many years in the future. But one thing is for certain: Porsche will offer fewer gas-powered sports cars starting next year, and that number is probably not going to increase in the ensuing years.

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