Future EVs Might Get Gas Engines After All

Porsche has realized people still want gas cars, admitting recently the EV adoption isn’t going as planned. Indeed, sales of the fully electric Taycan sedan/wagon duo are down by a whopping 50% globally through the third quarter of 2024. Automotive News Europe now quotes the company’s Chief Financial Officer saying the new plan is to “react in our product cycle” by continuing investments in combustion engines.

Lutz Meschke said Porsche will be pouring money into gas engines for the Cayenne and Panamera. As already announced, the V-8 is sticking around for the long haul as it will live to see the 2030s, at least in the SUV. Interestingly, the CFO went a step further and admitted that future models initially conceived as EVs might spawn derivatives with ICE power:

“We are currently looking at the possibility of the originally planned all-electric vehicles having a hybrid drive or a combustion engine. We are currently in the middle of making conceptual decisions. What is clear is that we are sticking with the combustion engine for much longer.”

That’s easier said than done considering upcoming models are all expected to ride on a dedicated electric car platform. As you can imagine, Meschke didn’t say which future EVs could be joined by gas-engine counterparts. We reckon the fullsize, three-row SUV known by its “K1” codename is a potential candidate. The luxobarge will slot above the Cayenne once it arrives in the second half of the decade. For now, it’s an EV-only product, but given the CFO’s statement, that could change.

Of course, what we really want is for the next-generation 718 lineup to still have gas engines. The current Boxster and Cayman models will be phased out by late 2025 when their EV replacements are scheduled to arrive. Development is largely finished by now, so we’re circumspect about the prospects of seeing a gas engine. The sports car segment is small, so the math might not work out in the ICE 718’s favor.

Elsewhere, the previous-generation Macan won’t live past 2026. Its replacement is already here, sold only with electric drivetrains. Could Porsche find a way to cram in a gas engine? Or just refresh the first-gen model once again? Some would argue either solution is a necessity given how the smaller of the company’s two crossovers has historically been one of its strongest sellers. It was the most popular in 2021 and right behind the Cayenne in 2022 and 2023.

As for the 911, Porsche has no intention of launching a fully electric model this decade. However, the electrification process has already started with the new hybrid GTS. Next year’s Turbo will also be a hybrid.