Porsche is testing its first ever electric sports car, the next-gen 718, spied here as the soft-top Boxster model while being put through its paces on snowy roads near the Arctic Circle. In true Porsche tradition, it looks a lot like the current model, so chances are that while something revolutionary will take place under the skin, to the casual observer this will just look like a new Boxster.
The manufacturer even gave the camouflaged prototype a fake centrally-mounted exhaust tip, in an attempt to fool those who see it into thinking it’s just an internal combustion-engined car. However, since there’s no steam coming out of that exhaust, it does give the game away that at least some electrification is responsible for its propulsion.
Gallery: 2025 Porsche 718 EV spied winter testing
We don’t know how much of this prototype is the finished production 718 EV and how much is made up of older Boxster parts. This could very well be a mule with a mishmash of new and old parts, with camouflage on top of some areas to not make it clear exactly which parts are placeholders.
The same active shutters that can essentially close off most of the front end are still there, and they will likely stay for production. The prototype also appears to have an active rear wing - we don’t see it move in any of the photos, but it looks like it could be of the kind that rises at speed.
And even if new and old 718 may end up looking similar, rest assured that Porsche will not carry over any hardware from the previous-gen model. The EV will ride on its own platform and the manufacturer hopes that in using a custom architecture it will be able to keep the vehicle’s weight down, since this is such a big issue for the current crop of EVs.
The electric Boxster and Cayman are still some two years away, with an expected launch in 2024. They will be offered with single- and dual-motor configurations with the latter probably offering a lot more power than today’s gas-burning models.
