depami

Replica but cool and impressive workmanship:

Petza914

Not sure why someone would take a classic Porsche (even a replica) and install into it a technology that is going to be very short lived in the auto-industry. It's great looking though.

928 GT R

Pete, I agree, the liquid battery of todays EV's is nearing the end of its design validity and production run. 10 days ago VW group paid another milestone payment to Quantum Scape (QS) as the long term testing of the QS solid state battery has passed with flying colors and they are moving toward production under the QS licensing agreement with VW's subsidiary battery manufacturer - Power Co. Porsche cars will be featuring the solid state battery technology as well. Charging stations will have to change as well. As a late adopter of EV technology, my thinking is that EV's are getting closer to prime time with this development. My guess is five years until we start to see meaningful market penetration.

The QS battery charges from 10 - 80% in only 15 minutes and as a solid/solid battery with no liquid has almost no fire danger or degradation - even after 1,000 charging cycles it retains 95% of its charging capacity.

I'm not going to belabor this discussion because my favorite toys remain fire breathing ICE monsters.

Shirah

He needed something to do during the Covid years.
Some people ate/drank too much and ballooned out

He built a car!

hacker-pschorr

Probably because he didn't want to wait 10+ years for the next tech to be available (affordable) at the consumer level.


This is interesting:

torfin

Don't know if all have seen, but the ICE Boxster's days are numbered. Porsche has confirmed electric Boxster/Caymans only by mid 2025. So one can either get on the electric band wagon or drive the older, slower car...Get used to it...
I currently have a 981 and a 928. Having a 928 and a 718EV would really be a contrast! I suspect though, the 928 will be the LIGHTER car. Hard to imagine.

Petza914

The latter is exactly what I plan to do and why my daily use car is an 84 928. Currently with 9 cars, as long as there is gasoline, I may buy 1 more new vehicle for the remaining 30 years of my driving life, and it will be a pickup. I have no interest in any vehicle newer than 2012, including Porsches, and even less interest in an EV. With each new generation there are more electronics, more limitations to what the vehicles let you do, and less opportunity to repair them yourselves. EVs are too range limiting, too towing limited, and at the mercy of the current power grid that can barely support the EV conversions done so far. When this doubles or triples or quadruples based on government mandated changeover, it will cripple the power grid, especially in places like CA. It's just one of the reasons I'm installing a propane whole house standby generator this week.

Electric is a great platform for golf carts, scooters, and for portable power tools - not for long range automobiles. Many early adopters of electric cars have already gone back to gasoline or diesel for their next one and even the EV leaders like Testa are having to offer huge incentives to sell what they've already built. The model just doesn't work as it exists today. Maybe with the QS solid state battery David mentions things will change....

hacker-pschorr

I know you're kinda kidding, but if absolute speed were my concern with a car I wouldn't own five of these things and instead something like a 458 Ferrari. Or I'd commission Twin Turbo Todd to build a clone of his 928 for me, and spank every Tesla that thinks they are the fastest sh*t in town.
EV's are heavy, that will always be my #1 gripe. Go for a drive in the mountains with the fastest EV on the planet and you'll still be out run by a well setup Miata.

1. The vast majority of driving isn't "long range" so that's a moot point
2. The EV Cannonball Run record is 42 hours and 17 minutes (yes that includes charging time). That's not an easy feet to match in a bone stock ICE vehicle @ 2,906 miles
3. Back to the first point. Most households have more than one vehicle, especially those with EV's. The "other" vehicle can and most likely will be used for any long distance traveling

.....and many folks are buying their first EV. Many early adopters just want something different. Folks that get a new car every 2-3 years tend to buy a different kind of car every 2-3 years. The market hasn't been around long enough for any meaningful long term sales data.

However, 2023 the Tesla Model Y was the best selling vehicle worldwide and currently #4 in 2024.

torfin

@hacker-pschorr, it was great talking to you at SITM. Kidding? Yeah. Kinda. Porsche moving to electric only for mid year 2025 Boxsters and Caymans isn't a joke, it's happening. Data point, I don't own an electric, although the Girl does want a Prius (I know, but we like each other a lot, so I'm staying).
My 981S is an incredible mountain road car, and I love driving it there. I didn't love spending 3 days changing the plugs, coil packs, and air filters on an engine I can't even see.
I love driving my 928 there too, but not as quickly. And I'm certain the electronics are more troublesome than the ones in the 981S.
I design spaceships for a living, and I'm pretty well versed on the latest electric power options when costs are not even a consideration compared to performance. So, I think my decision to not own an EV right now is fairly well informed. I do fully expect the 718EV to weigh more than my 928GT.
OTOH, I have driven a Taycan Turbo for a few days (as a dealer loaner, no less), and the acceleration was impressive. (it was fun picking it up from the kid in the dealership. He said "I'm not allowed to tell you how to get it into sport mode" as he put it in that mode. "Do I need to show you again?" Nope!)
When I tire of living in the space tech universe, I drive another of my toys, a 1935 Chevrolet 1.5 ton truck, that once was used by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It carries a lot more mulch than a pickup. When the Bad Space Aliens show up and kill all electronics on the planet with EMP pulses from orbit, I'll load my bugout gear into Qubie and head off further into the hinterlands, my collection of pre WWI 7x57 Swedish Mausers handy.

@Petza well met. I'm only about an hour from you, so in the grand scheme of things, we are practically neighbors. Isn't Ceasar's Head fun? I once passed a flatlander there going up mountain in the passing zone while driving Qubie. He was a bit startled...

hacker-pschorr

It was nice to meet you too, cannot wait until next year! Lorelei and Danno are already talking about the next trip.

I've been following the news closely, so close that I'm tempted to take my local dealership up on an allocation for a 2024 GTS 4.0 - last of the N/A.

I'm ready to add an EV to the fleet, have been for several years. My only hesitation is deciding on which one to buy. Just when I think I've made up my mind, a new batch comes out and I get indecisive again. Frankly for 90% of our driving, even weekend trips to Milwaukee or Minneapolis, most of the EV's on the market will more than suffice. My wife is ecstatic about the idea of never having to stop for gas in the middle of winter and we'd be able to add a high speed charger at her parking spot at her salon. As I type this out, I yet again question why I don't just go buy one already.

That's my #1 issue that cannot be overcome anytime soon (if ever?).
I was all excited when the Spyder was announced, until I learned that somehow it managed to weigh over 3,200lbs!!!! It's supposed to be the stripped down, bare bones Boxster. That's why I hang onto our 986 which at 2,800lbs is still heavier than I'd like it to be.

I dunno, some days I just want to sell off a few cars, buy a new EV and a Toyota FR86. Best of both extremes and I would gut that Toyota to a potential 2,500lbs or less.


Knock It Off!!!! Now I'm shopping for sailboats again!!!!

928 GT R

I'd love to have an EV as well, but just can't justify the weight penalty with todays battery technology. No way I'd buy one now, with Solid State right around the corner.

I personally think Porsche is making a huge mistake by taking the fantastic Cayman GT4 and making it all EV. They finally got it right!!!

Last week I bought another Cayenne Turbo S in exquisite condition and have plenty of cars to last my lifetime. I should probably get rid of a few. Yet even I would make room for a 2028 928 GT Coupe, reborn as a Solid State EV with 700 hp, a range of 700 miles, charging to 85% in 15 minutes and weighing under 4,000 lbs. That would hit a sweet spot for me in my automotive fantasies.

Adk46

EV's are not for everyone. For example, those who cannot charge at home cannot enjoy the greatest advantage. But I can charge at home with cheap solar power and I rarely take long trips. I bought the first in 2018, and replaced a Macan with another in 2021. I am naturally immune to the disinformation about them — no, they do not cause brain cancer. I am often astonished by comments from people who have never owned one, yet seem to think they know more about them than I do.

They must think I'm stupid. When I'm not in the mood for that sort of thing, I say "In 2017 I reserved a Tesla, put solar panels on the roof, and bought a little Tesla stock. I got two free cars and free electricity from that deal. I'm feeling pretty smart about that." It's a more powerful statement when gas prices are high.

Gas cars have gotten too complicated to own after the warranty expires. They're also too slow! Those comments might well qualify as disinformation - see how that works? Still, I own lots of old gas cars, but I don't think I'll ever buy a new one again. But everyone can still buy whatever they like, or keep what they like, so no reason to fret about it.

linderpat

So long as that remains true, I'm 100% with you Curt. My fear is the beating of the drum by our leaders of wisdom stating that ICE engines must be eliminated. Anyway, hope to see you at Frenzy this year, haven't seen you in awhile.

Adk46

The laws and regulations that may ban gas cars necessarily involve assumptions, principally that infrastructure will be in place by (most often) 2035. In the meantime, they will encourage the development of that infrastructure, such as having chargers for apartment dwellers and of course grid capacity. But if those assumptions prove wrong, something will have to give; the year will slip. Something similar will be true regarding the demand/acceptance of EV's (still increasing despite the news, now at 12%). But I'm not making predictions about something 11 years out. We'll see.

As far as converting classic cars to electric, I think that's a bit tricky. My Bugeye Sprite would be a much better car if made electric, and I would drive it a lot more. But the point of owning it, for me, is exactly the experience of struggling with it, if that makes sense. The Jaguar Mark 10 I'm converting was an easy choice, for which I'm swapping in a smooth electric motor for the wrong-sounding small block Chevy engine that a previous owner swapped in. I have zero interest in sourcing and re-installing a "proper" 60-year-old XK engine. Some authenticity will remain: oil spots on the floor from the differential.


(First drive out of the garage was just yesterday. Yippee! Two gas tanks, so I had the choice of putting the charging port on the left or the right. Still much to do.)

UKenGB

Well, just as an example to put things in perspective, an ICE powered Jaguar F-Pace of similar performance to an I-Pace EV is approx. 75kg lighter, which in cars of over 2 tons is basically FA.

There are also conversions of some cars that have turned out lighter than the original with ICE power.

I'm not trying to suggest current EVs are lighter than ICE. In general there is some additional weight currently, but with battery energy density on the rise, this will come down. The problem in the meantime is the disinformation being promulgated on the 'Net and in the media that EVs are SO much heavier. Any comparisons made are always between dissimilar cars and conveniently ignore that larger cars always weigh more and that newer cars are all getting heavier and more complicated, even ICE powered ones.

The cars I chose for comparison above are as close as I can think of. Although actually different bodies, they are extremely similar looking and of very similar size, but one is fully EV and the other pure ICE. Add 100L of petrol and the the weight will be almost the same.

This is not to say I don't understand the lure of the ICE I have grown up with and indeed still have several V8 versions of those.

All I'm saying is that an EV doesn't have to be massively heavier than an ICE equivalent and any current disparity will in a few years start to invert as battery technology moves from the current approx. 250Wh/kg to 500 and even 700 Wh/kg - both having been demonstrated in the lab and I seem to recall CATL saying 500 Wh/kg in production within the year. The whole industry will not of course switch to these newer better batteries overnight as they will be more expensive initially, but that will change over time.

So there's a very good chance that in the future there will be EVs that are not only quicker than any ICE equivalent, but also no heavier and with enough range to satisfy all.