I think one misstep from a business pov, was targeting the sports car market for their EV shift. I love EVs, and racing. EV racing is a different beast from what Porsche customers in particular expect. They will need a configuration as novel as the boxer engine.
On the one hand ICE sports cars still have the cool reputation, but that reputation is slowly going to get a bit tarnished as more and more get smoked by "mom's shopping car" (as newer EV's come on the market) at the drag race. Ultimately electric motors are the superior technology here.
Oddly, steam had some very interesting properties too, but for motor vehicles was ultimately let down by practicality and possibly power-to-weight ratio if I recall correctly.
ICE of course was always about convenience and a lot of energy in a small tank. As batteries improve, this advantage is being worn down.
Meanwhile, in trains, "hybrid" (diesel-electric) and electric are the two main types left. There's simply a lot to be said for 100% torque at 0 RPM.
EVs often have great acceleration, so I would think it would be a natural fit for the sports car market. Even the ordinary ones are a lot more fun to accelerate on a freeway onramp than an ordinary 4- or 6-cylinder gas engine.
For sure, your average quick-off-the-mark, around-town EV is way more fun to drive than your average four banger.
But, I've been in a Model 3 Performance and a Taycan 4S and experienced the ~3s electric 0-60, and... it's just ghostly, linear motion, nothing like the feeling of the non-linear jerk and jolt-punctuated ride you get with a powerful ICE and manual transmission.
The M3P in particular was so shockingly video game-like it almost felt dangerous, as though I didn't really realise just how fast I was going until it was too fast.
Your "typical" performance car customer wants a monster noise from the engine. A visceral sound. If it sounds like a jet fighter taking off, even better. There's no "authentic" sound to replace it.
As someone who cycles a lot, I can heartily recommend larger wheels and strong legs if you really need to slice through the traffic at 30mph.
But I do agree that personal electric transportation should be able to travel at >15mph on suitable cycle tracks, seeing as it ain’t that hard for pedal bikes to do those speeds.
They will soon be illegal in the EU and, I suppose, the UK. Not in most other regions including North America and Asia.
Porsche's mistake lies in forcing all of their other customers, worldwide, to accept products designed to satisfy EU regulators. Lowest-common-denominator engineering has never been why people buy Porsches, but these days the engineers at Porsche take a bus to work, where they report to people who were chauffeured there.
>Porsche's mistake lies in forcing all of their other customers, worldwide, to accept products designed to satisfy EU regulators.
Porsche can not afford to keep ICE development afloat just for the US market and a few others. There is no economic case for keeping ICE Porsches around when they can capture only a very small amount of the market. It is also preposterous to have engineers build cars in such an environment.
Well, I guess that's pretty much it for Porsche, then.
Meanwhile, there are other companies that don't seem to be voluntarily adopting similar constraints. The age of the "World Car" is over, and Porsche's only chance is for their management to confront that reality.
Blume was the CEO of Porsche and VW up until weeks ago, when he gave up the title of Porsche CEO. VW is extremely invested into making regional cars, something which Blume heavily emphasized.
This is not about management not knowing, it is about the realities of Porsche as a company. Going back to ICE, just to habe Cars American consumers may want more, is not an option.
As a new EV owner of just a couple months, I can see why without even watching the video. They're a major pain in the ass for a negative return.
By the time you factor in the increased price of the car, increased price of insurance, and increased price of tires, you'll end up in the red even if you do charge at home (and if you don't, the cost is just as much as gas if not higher), and that's not even factoring in the overall inconvenience of ownership.
I'll be going back to ice/hybrid as soon as my lease is up, and never returning to all electric. The only thing they have is faster, smoother acceleration, but I've learned that I like the dirty feel of a shifting transmission better - kind of like why beer and all it's impurities is better than the purest alcohol. There is just nothing, zero, zilch, that is better in an EV.
> By the time you factor in the increased price of the car,
increased price of insurance, and increased price of tires,
What car did you buy and what would you pick now?
I've had the opposite, EV had a cheaper price, more horespower, nicer interior, better acceleration, cheap insurance, tires are mostly the same prices (bought winter tires recently)
On top of that...
- no more getting ripped off at garages with ice maintenance
- gas would be 3-4x what i would pay in electricity if i didnt have solar panels.
- no worries having catalitic converter stolen...
- no more polluting the neighborhood (main reason initially)
I would find it impossible to justify going back to ice.
> There is just nothing, zero, zilch, that is better in an EV.
counterpoint: i had a 2014 bmw i3 (electric, no range extender) for just shy of 8 years, 80,000 miles, charged at home or at work, and some hard data: fuel cost per mile is about 1/5 of efficient ICE (which i also have had, i charge at home at least expensive time window), total expenditure on maintenance was about $ 150 over 80,000 miles, not counting new tires which lasted about the same as my ICE cars' tires.
I think EVs can be excellent fits for many commmuting patterns, and certainly for people who learned driving manual transmissions and who have had high performing cars.
To the parent comment's point, it's sort of personal preference.
A counterpoint, aside from the acceleration, I love how I can just plug in my car at home. No more trips to a gas station, brake pad changes, oil changes, etc.
I have home solar, so my "gas" is free, although I have 300kw of Electrify America charging that came with my lease.
I've driven an ID4 since 2021 and won't be going back to ICE.
Interesting. Have you not owned it long enough to notice a difference in the level of maintenance and repairs required? There is certainly no need for oil changes and less need for brake work, etc.
But you do have good points. The main thing is the cost has to come down. And china has a lead in that respect.
I think it really depends on your use case, your commute, and lifestyle.
For me an EV has been great, but it’s not my only car. I can charge at work for free, or at home with solar. Even if I’m paying 30-60 cents/kWh, it’s way cheaper per mile than my gas cars.
Maintenance… there’s none. Just consumables like washer fluid, tires, wipers.
But that said you need to be able to charge at home, and your range needs to be right sized to your commute/lifestyle. When correct it’s better than a gas cars- it’s always full and ready to go. If the range is wrong or you can’t conveniently charge it, it is a chore.
Personally an automatic transmission does nothing for me, I’ll take the unrelenting acceleration of the EV over that any day. But a 6spd is more fun!
There is no point in debating this, since Europe has already made the decision. Porsche has had no alternative to trying to make a high end EV market happened (which is probably delusional).
not really an accurate take -- it's less of a pause and more of a slowdown from original plans to move non 911 platforms. Macans and Cayennes still are more than half of their business, EV Macans outsold ICE mayans, and a new EV Cayenne is about to be launched.
The profit collapse is more a matter of accounting write downs for their R&D
Make no mistake, they still have issues because sales are collapsing in China (and much of that pressure is from EV upstarts), and there's been a pushback in US on EVs in part due to political shifts.
So we'll continue to se EV, ICE and hybrid development from Porsche, just at a different mix. But it's not going to be easy for them regardless. They have a precarious place in the upmarket mix where a lot of competition is coming for the intro luxury segment, and the volume in the exotic segment is too low to really sustain operations at Porsche's scale.
Still in a better spot than, say, an Astin Martin which would have been better off financially last couple of years just giving customers cash instead of letting them buy cars and lose money on every one
The wife owned the original 2015 Macan S. She loved it. A few months ago we leased a 2025 Macan 4S EV. It is a fantastic vehicle, much better than the gas version. Power is cheap here in WA. Premium gas at $4.50 p/g vs $.082 p/kHh. So that works out (rough) 100 miles cost $18 gas vs. $2.48 for the EV. No moving parts to fix, oil to change, etc. The EV wins hands down. I want an Electric Boxster to replace my old 2010 Boxster S. I will buy it as soon as they ship it.
Good to hear the Macan EV is working out for you. It's an appealing car for sure, but I wish they'd made it a PHEV so it could replace my '20 S for everything I use it for.
I think the Boxster EV is supposed to be released next year, so maybe you won't have too long to wait for that. In the meantime, you can simulate the experience by loading 500 pounds of rocks into your frunk and 500 more pounds into the trunk. I'm a lot more bearish about the EV Cayman/Boxster than I am about the Macan EV.
In other news today Porsche today launched the 2026 991.2 Hybrid Turbo S which adds a 1.9kWh battery and an 80bhp electric motor. Maybe the article meant Porsche pauses BEVs?
I think one misstep from a business pov, was targeting the sports car market for their EV shift. I love EVs, and racing. EV racing is a different beast from what Porsche customers in particular expect. They will need a configuration as novel as the boxer engine.
On the one hand ICE sports cars still have the cool reputation, but that reputation is slowly going to get a bit tarnished as more and more get smoked by "mom's shopping car" (as newer EV's come on the market) at the drag race. Ultimately electric motors are the superior technology here.
Oddly, steam had some very interesting properties too, but for motor vehicles was ultimately let down by practicality and possibly power-to-weight ratio if I recall correctly.
ICE of course was always about convenience and a lot of energy in a small tank. As batteries improve, this advantage is being worn down.
Meanwhile, in trains, "hybrid" (diesel-electric) and electric are the two main types left. There's simply a lot to be said for 100% torque at 0 RPM.
EVs often have great acceleration, so I would think it would be a natural fit for the sports car market. Even the ordinary ones are a lot more fun to accelerate on a freeway onramp than an ordinary 4- or 6-cylinder gas engine.
For sure, your average quick-off-the-mark, around-town EV is way more fun to drive than your average four banger.
But, I've been in a Model 3 Performance and a Taycan 4S and experienced the ~3s electric 0-60, and... it's just ghostly, linear motion, nothing like the feeling of the non-linear jerk and jolt-punctuated ride you get with a powerful ICE and manual transmission.
The M3P in particular was so shockingly video game-like it almost felt dangerous, as though I didn't really realise just how fast I was going until it was too fast.
The noise too.
Your "typical" performance car customer wants a monster noise from the engine. A visceral sound. If it sounds like a jet fighter taking off, even better. There's no "authentic" sound to replace it.
Music to the ears (Grand Prix 1966) -> https://youtu.be/5RILdsjeL_4
But by all means, regulate electric scooters top speeds.
As someone who cycles a lot, I can heartily recommend larger wheels and strong legs if you really need to slice through the traffic at 30mph.
But I do agree that personal electric transportation should be able to travel at >15mph on suitable cycle tracks, seeing as it ain’t that hard for pedal bikes to do those speeds.
If anything EVs have too great acceleration. I dread the day they become dominant and every trip by car becomes a nausea-inducing joyride for me.
They don’t have a sports car EV though. They launched a sedan, crossover and midsize SUV.
How is this a miss step? The ICE cars they wanted to sell will soon be illegal, so what alternatives do they have, but develop EVs?
They will soon be illegal in the EU and, I suppose, the UK. Not in most other regions including North America and Asia.
Porsche's mistake lies in forcing all of their other customers, worldwide, to accept products designed to satisfy EU regulators. Lowest-common-denominator engineering has never been why people buy Porsches, but these days the engineers at Porsche take a bus to work, where they report to people who were chauffeured there.
>Porsche's mistake lies in forcing all of their other customers, worldwide, to accept products designed to satisfy EU regulators.
Porsche can not afford to keep ICE development afloat just for the US market and a few others. There is no economic case for keeping ICE Porsches around when they can capture only a very small amount of the market. It is also preposterous to have engineers build cars in such an environment.
Well, I guess that's pretty much it for Porsche, then.
Meanwhile, there are other companies that don't seem to be voluntarily adopting similar constraints. The age of the "World Car" is over, and Porsche's only chance is for their management to confront that reality.
Blume was the CEO of Porsche and VW up until weeks ago, when he gave up the title of Porsche CEO. VW is extremely invested into making regional cars, something which Blume heavily emphasized.
This is not about management not knowing, it is about the realities of Porsche as a company. Going back to ICE, just to habe Cars American consumers may want more, is not an option.
As a new EV owner of just a couple months, I can see why without even watching the video. They're a major pain in the ass for a negative return.
By the time you factor in the increased price of the car, increased price of insurance, and increased price of tires, you'll end up in the red even if you do charge at home (and if you don't, the cost is just as much as gas if not higher), and that's not even factoring in the overall inconvenience of ownership.
I'll be going back to ice/hybrid as soon as my lease is up, and never returning to all electric. The only thing they have is faster, smoother acceleration, but I've learned that I like the dirty feel of a shifting transmission better - kind of like why beer and all it's impurities is better than the purest alcohol. There is just nothing, zero, zilch, that is better in an EV.
> By the time you factor in the increased price of the car, increased price of insurance, and increased price of tires,
What car did you buy and what would you pick now?
I've had the opposite, EV had a cheaper price, more horespower, nicer interior, better acceleration, cheap insurance, tires are mostly the same prices (bought winter tires recently)
On top of that...
- no more getting ripped off at garages with ice maintenance
- gas would be 3-4x what i would pay in electricity if i didnt have solar panels.
- no worries having catalitic converter stolen...
- no more polluting the neighborhood (main reason initially)
I would find it impossible to justify going back to ice.
> There is just nothing, zero, zilch, that is better in an EV.
You dont kill your kids with the exhaust.
counterpoint: i had a 2014 bmw i3 (electric, no range extender) for just shy of 8 years, 80,000 miles, charged at home or at work, and some hard data: fuel cost per mile is about 1/5 of efficient ICE (which i also have had, i charge at home at least expensive time window), total expenditure on maintenance was about $ 150 over 80,000 miles, not counting new tires which lasted about the same as my ICE cars' tires.
I think EVs can be excellent fits for many commmuting patterns, and certainly for people who learned driving manual transmissions and who have had high performing cars.
To the parent comment's point, it's sort of personal preference.
A counterpoint, aside from the acceleration, I love how I can just plug in my car at home. No more trips to a gas station, brake pad changes, oil changes, etc.
I have home solar, so my "gas" is free, although I have 300kw of Electrify America charging that came with my lease.
I've driven an ID4 since 2021 and won't be going back to ICE.
Interesting. Have you not owned it long enough to notice a difference in the level of maintenance and repairs required? There is certainly no need for oil changes and less need for brake work, etc.
But you do have good points. The main thing is the cost has to come down. And china has a lead in that respect.
I think it really depends on your use case, your commute, and lifestyle.
For me an EV has been great, but it’s not my only car. I can charge at work for free, or at home with solar. Even if I’m paying 30-60 cents/kWh, it’s way cheaper per mile than my gas cars.
Maintenance… there’s none. Just consumables like washer fluid, tires, wipers.
But that said you need to be able to charge at home, and your range needs to be right sized to your commute/lifestyle. When correct it’s better than a gas cars- it’s always full and ready to go. If the range is wrong or you can’t conveniently charge it, it is a chore.
Personally an automatic transmission does nothing for me, I’ll take the unrelenting acceleration of the EV over that any day. But a 6spd is more fun!
There is no point in debating this, since Europe has already made the decision. Porsche has had no alternative to trying to make a high end EV market happened (which is probably delusional).
dual electric motor plus ice hybrid porsche from 2013:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_918_Spyder
not really an accurate take -- it's less of a pause and more of a slowdown from original plans to move non 911 platforms. Macans and Cayennes still are more than half of their business, EV Macans outsold ICE mayans, and a new EV Cayenne is about to be launched.
The profit collapse is more a matter of accounting write downs for their R&D
Make no mistake, they still have issues because sales are collapsing in China (and much of that pressure is from EV upstarts), and there's been a pushback in US on EVs in part due to political shifts.
So we'll continue to se EV, ICE and hybrid development from Porsche, just at a different mix. But it's not going to be easy for them regardless. They have a precarious place in the upmarket mix where a lot of competition is coming for the intro luxury segment, and the volume in the exotic segment is too low to really sustain operations at Porsche's scale.
Still in a better spot than, say, an Astin Martin which would have been better off financially last couple of years just giving customers cash instead of letting them buy cars and lose money on every one
Probably best to not mention "Porsche" and "tank" in the same headline.
The wife owned the original 2015 Macan S. She loved it. A few months ago we leased a 2025 Macan 4S EV. It is a fantastic vehicle, much better than the gas version. Power is cheap here in WA. Premium gas at $4.50 p/g vs $.082 p/kHh. So that works out (rough) 100 miles cost $18 gas vs. $2.48 for the EV. No moving parts to fix, oil to change, etc. The EV wins hands down. I want an Electric Boxster to replace my old 2010 Boxster S. I will buy it as soon as they ship it.
Good to hear the Macan EV is working out for you. It's an appealing car for sure, but I wish they'd made it a PHEV so it could replace my '20 S for everything I use it for.
I think the Boxster EV is supposed to be released next year, so maybe you won't have too long to wait for that. In the meantime, you can simulate the experience by loading 500 pounds of rocks into your frunk and 500 more pounds into the trunk. I'm a lot more bearish about the EV Cayman/Boxster than I am about the Macan EV.
In other news today Porsche today launched the 2026 991.2 Hybrid Turbo S which adds a 1.9kWh battery and an 80bhp electric motor. Maybe the article meant Porsche pauses BEVs?