News that the next Porsche Cayman will be electric was enough to get brand aficionados quivering at the lip. A Cayman without a flat-six engine is surely no kind of Cayman at all.
The flip side is that we’ll get an electric sportscar from a company that currently makes the best sportscars money can buy. With the challenges of electric power – the price, the weight and the charging – comes advantages like instant power and torque vectoring that could make the new Porsche the most exciting EV we’ve yet encountered. It will sit on a unique Mission R platform after Volkswagen delayed the production of its SSP Sport underpinning until 2028.
One of the biggest advantages of the new Cayman is the easy delivery of electric power. Porsche is expected to offer the new Cayman in S, GTS and four-wheel drive Turbo guises, with even the basic model offering nearly 400PS (294kW), the GTS getting close to 500PS (368kW) and the top-of-the-range turbo maxing out around 600PS (441kW).
However, the most exciting aspect of the new Cayman is not the power it has, but how it will deliver it. Basic rear-wheel drive models have a motor on each back wheel, the result being a car that, like with a Ferrari E-diff, makes you feel like a driving god, trimming the power to allow for easily controllable slides.
Four-wheel drive models get a third motor on the front axle, giving extra grip out of corners and straightening the car if slide angles get too extreme. If anyone can build a truly engaging EV, it would be Porsche.
Weight will be key to the success of the new Cayman. Heavy batteries have been a feature of performance EVs, so Porsche headed to Northvolt to get a battery pack that is as light as possible. Porsche claims the new Cayman will be significantly lighter than a four-door EV saloon.
Northvolts prismatic cells allow for compact packaging, low weight and easy scalability. Expect the basic version of the new Cayman to have an 89kWh battery, growing to a 99kWh power source for the four-wheel drive Turbo version. Both will be capable of 800V charging speeds – for 15-minute stop-offs – offering a range of more than 300 miles between charges.
The downside of making battery technology that pushes the boundaries of what’s possible is that it’s expensive. There are already stories of Northvolt struggling to generate capital, questioning whether the company can ever produce its batteries to scale.
We still don’t know much about the new Cayman, but we know how it will look. Its styling will be based on the company’s Mission R Concept EV, a theory backed by recent spy shots showing a baby Porsche significantly bigger than its predecessor – bulk needed to help accommodate the battery.
Nevertheless, this could be the best-looking Cayman yet. In the past, the Cayman’s styling has apologetically taken its rightful place behind the larger, more expensive, and more iconic 911. But the new model appears to turn that order on its head.
If it looks anything like the Mission R Concept, the new Cayman is going to be quite a thing. Its scalloped edge nose and rounded headlight housing give it a classic Porsche look, but with substantial cooling vents at the front wheels and an S-duct style intake in the bonnet.
The R’s broad shoulders make it look like you’ll have to shuffle over a broad sill to get in, and there’s a strong flavour of 911 to the car’s heavy-set rear, finished off with jewel-like LEDs spelling out ‘Cayman’. The new model’s larger size will allow for a bigger boot, compensating for the loss of the frunk, which now accommodates the front motor in four-wheel-drive models.
Admittedly, the side skirts, wing vents and swan-neck rear spoiler are unlikely to make production to the standard car, although we wouldn’t rule out a more focused model in the future. You can expect Porsche’s Weissach Pack to be on the options list, offering lightweight seats, an aero package and powerful ceramic composite brakes.
We know that the new electric Cayman will have close ties to motorsport and the company’s Formula E programme, but not necessarily in the ways you expect.
One of Porsche’s biggest challenges is making the electric Cayman feel like a Porsche, particularly the brakes. Porsche is a specialist in making brakes with lots of stopping power and plenty of feel, so the company is pouring hours into making the Cayman’s regenerative brakes just right. Balancing power and feel with an ability to recharge the battery as quickly as possible.
Unlike other companies who package their EVs with large batteries in the floor, Porsche is set to place the battery where the Cayman’s always had its power – in the middle, behind the driver, and that offers two advantages.
Firstly, mounting the battery midship gives the handling balance you would expect of Porsche’s junior sports car, giving it excellent traction and an ability to arch around corners as its back wheels slide. The other is an excellent seating position. With no bulky battery on the floor, you can get your driver’s seat as low as you want.
When can you expect to be able to buy the new Cayman? The electric sports car had been pencilled in for a 2023 delivery date, but that has now been held back until the end of 2025. There’s a sense Porsche isn’t exactly sure how to play its next hand.
Private EV sales are sticky, depreciation on company-bought EVs is vast, the UK still lags behind the best for EV infrastructure, and there’s also the small matter of price – the electric Cayman is expected to be significantly more expensive than the petrol model which is currently priced from just under £55,000. But if Porsche gets it right, you can expect the new Cayman to be the best EV for enthusiasts.
Report by Russell Campbell
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