Gotterdamerung for the Boxster

[John V]

Hm. Maybe we need to start shopping for the next car sooner than I thought.

I'm excited to own an EV at some point, but I don't think an electric Cayman or Boxster does anything for me.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by John V

Hm. Maybe we need to start shopping for the next car sooner than I thought.

I'm excited to own an EV at some point, but I don't think an electric Cayman or Boxster does anything for me.

Totally get that.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by clyde

(Not looking to rehash this, only to point out that it's still an issue that no one ever seems to address.)

Challenging, but I'm going to delete what I just typed out and instead hold fast on this.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

Gas is already the loss leader for the convenience store. Wonder what the new model will be. And, as you mention, how we feed the remaining ICEs—whether at the top of the market or bottom…

Also, as Clyde points out, how do you accommodate the folks in Multifamily situations, where the model has already been to to do away with individual parking spaces that could have had their own power sources? The long-term play is a one-percent scenario with those of us who can afford single-family housing owning cars and those in denser housing doing some sort of shared ownership or Zip Car solution.

Retrofitting and fast charging is the solution. Charging speed continues to improve. Why not expect that it will get fast enough that people don't need to charge at home?

I think that this is a much lower hurdle than people make it out to be. Do you put gas in your car at home? No. You don't need to charge at home. The only reason why people focus on that is because of the sluggishness of so many of today's charging options.

[lemming]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Retrofitting and fast charging is the solution. Charging speed continues to improve. Why not expect that it will get fast enough that people don't need to charge at home?

I think that this is a much lower hurdle than people make it out to be. Do you put gas in your car at home? No. You don't need to charge at home. The only reason why people focus on that is because of the sluggishness of so many of today's charging options.

I agree that this has been and always been my point of contention. EVs are a suburban home owner solution to transport right now.

[JST]

Originally Posted by Nick M3

Retrofitting and fast charging is the solution. Charging speed continues to improve. Why not expect that it will get fast enough that people don't need to charge at home?

I think that this is a much lower hurdle than people make it out to be. Do you put gas in your car at home? No. You don't need to charge at home. The only reason why people focus on that is because of the sluggishness of so many of today's charging options.

I find myself in the weird position of believing both a) people are not spending enough time and attention on building out high speed charging networks, and b) high speed charging networks will eventually get built because they have to be built.

I do think there's a tremendous opportunity right now to build and lock in an advantage on the charging front, which Tesla is taking advantage of and other people seem to be asleep on. But this is ultimately a pretty easily solvable problem, especially compared to supposed alternatives like hydrogen.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by JST

I find myself in the weird position of believing both a) people are not spending enough time and attention on building out high speed charging networks, and b) high speed charging networks will eventually get built because they have to be built.

I do think there's a tremendous opportunity right now to build and lock in an advantage on the charging front, which Tesla is taking advantage of and other people seem to be asleep on. But this is ultimately a pretty easily solvable problem, especially compared to supposed alternatives like hydrogen.

Exactly. The technology already basically exists. It just has to be built out. It'll happen.

[robg]

Originally Posted by JST

And the Taycan is, for me, a warning sign that EV platforms might be much less interesting than what they replace. But at this point we're screaming at the tide. ICE vehicles are going to be entirely extinct within 20 years.

Not sure the taycan necessarily predicts what a Porsche sports car EV will be like other than the obvious: more screens, no manual trans, different headlights etc. Porsche has shown they can make large 4 door vehicles while at the same time still making sports cars… it’s not like the cayenne and panamera predicted the direction of the 911 other than some interior design cues.

I don’t think I’ll shed a tear for the demise of the pdk 4 cyl turbo boxster. Could an EV powertrain make that car better? Probably.

As for stuff like the gts 4.0, maybe they’ll stuff that engine in a future “T” variant of the 911. If they are serious about keeping it around as an ICE vehicle why not double down on making even more expensive niche versions…


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[JST]

Originally Posted by robg

Not sure the taycan necessarily predicts what a Porsche sports car EV will be like other than the obvious: more screens, no manual trans, different headlights etc. Porsche has shown they can make large 4 door vehicles while at the same time still making sports cars… it’s not like the cayenne and panamera predicted the direction of the 911 other than some interior design cues.

I don’t think I’ll shed a tear for the demise of the pdk 4 cyl turbo boxster. Could an EV powertrain make that car better? Probably.

As for stuff like the gts 4.0, maybe they’ll stuff that engine in a future “T” variant of the 911. If they are serious about keeping it around as an ICE vehicle why not double down on making even more expensive niche versions…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe! We'll see. I'll reserve judgment. As I've said elsewhere, one thing an EV powertrain lets you do is experience driving in a very different way, because the lack of powertrain noise lets you be "in the moment" much more than an equivalent ICE vehicle. I suspect that will be even more true in a Boxster. I'm actually eager to see what top down driving with no engine noise is like--I suspect it will be pretty cool in the right setting.

[lemming]

Originally Posted by JST

Maybe! We'll see. I'll reserve judgment. As I've said elsewhere, one thing an EV powertrain lets you do is experience driving in a very different way, because the lack of powertrain noise lets you be "in the moment" much more than an equivalent ICE vehicle. I suspect that will be even more true in a Boxster. I'm actually eager to see what top down driving with no engine noise is like--I suspect it will be pretty cool in the right setting.

I’m arguing against myself, but I would say that an EV Boxster will be faster for pure performance, much like PDK always beats manual transmissions. And this might count for something.