How Will Porsche Stay Popular in an All-Electric Future?

Electrification is coming, and the carmakers that figure out how to make it cool are the ones that will survive. Porsche jumped in early, on the street and on the race track, before any other iconic brands like Aston Martin or McLaren were even thinking about going hybrid or fully electric. Porsche had world-beating endurance race car, the 919, on the track and a hybrid Panamera sedan on the road in 2014 and 2013. This drive toward the future continues with Porsche’s new debuts at the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show, which look forward while also showing that they still have their hearts set firmly in the traditions that made them the Porsche we know and love today.  

One of the most fascinating showcases at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show to us was Porsche’s - not only because the new 718 GT4 RS is an amazing looking beast, but the all-electric Taycan is the first EV by Porsche to earn the GTS performance badge.

These two cars are the perfect distillation of Porsche’s strategy for the next ten years. CEO Martin Blume has said that the plan is to have over 80% percent of Porsche’s fleet be fully electric by 2030. They plan to also heavily invest in e-fuels. This future is exciting and coincidentally good for the planet.  

That last 20% is the heart and soul of what Porsche has meant for the past seventy years, and the manufacturer’s loyalty to internal combustion is sure to make any enthusiast’s heart sing. The new 718 GT4 RS continues to show their commitment to pinning your posterior the back of the seat with a 500 horsepower 4-liter 6-cylender engine. The specs on this car kind of make us wonder how it’s street legal, but we’re definitely not complaining.  

This alone should keep those of us who have fallen in love with the mid-engine sports car happy, since this kind of machine sits juuuust on the bubble between the racing world and the everyday sojourns on the back roads of where we live with exceptional cars.  

The other side of the coin, of course, is the continual march toward electricity to power these exceptional cars. The new Taycan GTS is an incredible showcase for the partnership between Porsche and Rimac – a Croatian company that makes electric motors and drivetrains. Rimac has been instrumental in producing every one of Porsche’s latest electric wonders, including the Tesla-beating, drag-racing Taycan. 

This “80/20 by 2030” approach is something every car maker can learn from and strive toward. It’s understandable that there’s a lot of apprehension around change, but Porsche is proving that they can move forward without sacrificing the things that make a Porsche a Porsche.

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