Porsche has taken a step closer to producing an all-electric sports car with the 718 GT4 ePerformance. A combustion-engined 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport converted into a fully driveable dual-motor, all-wheel drive electric prototype, it’s a testbed both for a future one-make race series, and the 718 Boxster and Cayman EV road cars that land in 2025.
The ePerformance moves the story on from
last year’s Mission R concept. The 1,073 hp R gave us clues to how
the next generation of road and race cars would look, and outlined the kind of
powertrains they might use. But although it was a working concept, journalists
testing the R were limited to around 128 km/h. The ePerformance,
though, was built to be thrashed with no limits placed on how hard.
Like the Mission R, the GT4 ePerformance
is all-wheel drive thanks to the presence of an electric motor fitted at each
end of the car. They deliver a peak output of 1,073 hp,
though Porsche gives the maximum power in qualification mode as 986
hp, and says drivers can expect 604 hp of constant
power for 30 minutes during racing. In terms of laps times, Porsche says the
ePerformance is as quick as a gas-engined 911 GT3 cup car.
Anyone who’s driven an EV quickly knows
how monstering the right pedal decimates driving range, but Porsche says
drivers can bank on that power lasting 30 minutes before the battery needs
topped up. That top-up, or an 5-80 percent fill to be precise, takes 15 minutes
thanks to 900 volt charging tech. Which isn’t exactly going to set any pit-stop
records compared with gas cars, but does suggest road car charging times could
fall soon. Though the ePerformance is based on the 718 GT4 Clubsport, it
features 6,000 parts designed form scratch. The body is made from natural fiber
composite materials, and is 140 mm wider than the stock car’s to allow
room for wider 18 in Michelin racing tires that are partly constructed using
recycled materials.
Videos of the ePerformance in action
reveal that it’s far from silent under full load, and if you’re at the Goodwood
Festival of Speed in June you’ll be able to see and hear it for yourself when
it climbs the 1.9 km hill before embarking on a world demo tour that
starts in Europe, hits the U.S. in early 2023, and finishes up in Asia in 2024.
By which time Porsche should be just about ready to show us a production EV
racer, and more importantly, the all-new Boxster and Cayman electric sports cars
you’ll be able to buy in 2025.
