Green cars

With the all-electric Porsche Macan now officially on sale and starting to hit U.S. dealerships, I wanted to take the opportunity to spec out the most expensive Macan EV possible. So I fired up the configurator and selected the top variant of the four available models (Base, S, 4S, Turbo), which is the Macan Electric Turbo, and went to town. Now before you judge me for the bold PTS color choice, (Speed Yellow - 0UB in case you were wondering), I want to clarify that this was just an exercise. I’m personally far more conservative and would choose something more understated and go with something like silver or navy blue at best. But with this one, I’ve tried my best to select the priciest options available in my quest to get a ballpark figure of the most expensive Macan electric on sale today, and here’s what I found.

Porsche’s Taycan is one of the most hyped-up and popular performance EVs on sale today. By Q4 of 2023, Porsche had sold 136,000 Taycans cumulatively. The EV sedan bumped Porsche sports car sales by 3.3 percent, despite the German brand’s overall sales having dropped by 12 percent compared to 2022. While the electric vehicle market is currently experiencing a slowdown, it hasn’t stopped other manufacturers from entering the performance EV segment with their own offerings. Take for instance Lotus, a brand typically known for its lightweight sports cars. Still, now the British carmaker is giving us the Emeya – a large, EV performance sedan that wants to steal potential buyers, from the likes of the Taycan and Tesla Model S.

Remember that Top Gear test from 2008 where Jeremy Clarkson compared a Lotus Elise to the OG Tesla Roadster? Yes, the same one that led Elon Musk to sue Clarkson. Well, it appears to be coming full circle for the Elise, because we’ve got our first hint of the mysterious Lotus Theory 1, the rumored all-electric Elise, how ironic. This is a car that could shape up to be a formidable rival to the upcoming Porsche 718 EV. Lotus’ marketing chief, Qiao Xinyu, dropped a shadowy image of the Theory 1’s rear end. Sure, while the image doesn’t really reveal much, that prominent wing hovering over a sculpted rear-end, the sleek taillights flanking the classic Lotus badge, and the aggressive diffuser all but shout "sports car." But this electric silhouette throws a bit of a curveball. While the Eletre and Emeya have their sporty bits, that rear end wouldn’t be caught dead lumbering on an SUV or a four-door.

Modern digital tools and computing power, give pretty much anybody (with some level of skill of course) the ability to manipulate images like never before. A.I. has only taken that narrative further, with endless ways to come up with silly stuff. But it can also be put to good use as we have here with this rendering based on the already stunning 2021 Mission R concept car, this time sans the wing. But here’s why I think this one is a bit more special when compared to previous Mission R renderings that cropped up online.

The Porsche-Piëch connection is a deep-rooted family relationship that goes back decades and has shaped the history and success of the Porsche and Volkswagen automotive groups. Now, for those of you who haven’t heard of the Piëch name before, the late Dr.Ferdinand Piëch was one of the most influential automotive personalities of the 20th century. He was involved with the motorsports division of Porsche and Audi in the 1970s and ’80s and was instrumental in proliferating technologies such as Quattro and TDI. As CEO of Volkswagen in the 1990s, Piëch was also responsible for acquiring iconic brands such as Bugatti, and Lamborghini into the wider VW Group portfolio. Despite these phenomenal achievements, no car ever bore the Piëch name, until recently.

Things are always dynamic in the automotive industry and even carmakers like Porsche, hellbent on staying true to tradition, have to resort to unconventional methods to keep some of its most iconic models around. Porsche hasn’t given up on the internal combustion engine and it will continue to give us potent internal combustion powerplants, at least, until 2030. With electrification being the main agenda of many legacy automakers (and more than a few young companies), some of them are trying to make EVs more fun by incorporating traits from combustion-powered vehicles, such as manual shifting.

Spy shots of the upcoming all-electric 718 Porsche Boxster EV (983) are nothing around, and we’ve seen test mules doing the rounds around the Nordschleife and down in the Alps for a while now. However, with the launch date closing in, I felt now would be a good time to take a closer look and do a run-down about everything that we can see on the car, with the help of some close-up shots from Instagrammar and spy shot photographer: Stéphan Barral.

Remember that whole "fully electric by 2030" strategy that Porsche implied a few years back? Yeah, they’ve already backtracked on that, with the slowdown in the EV market. It turns out that convincing everyone to ditch gasoline is harder than Porsche had anticipated. Shocking, right? In yet another development, Michael Steiner, Porsche’s R&D head honcho, told Autocar that the Panamera isn’t ditching gas and fancy gasoline-electric combos anytime soon. An electric Panamera is still coming, but those hoping for an all-electric future for the four-door Sportback might need to adjust their expectations. Frankly, I saw this one coming, given the growing popularity of hybrids off-late and how they’re now considered cool.

Like it or not, electrification is coming and Porsche like every other automaker out there, will need to adopt. But despite its expanding electric model lineup, (think electric Macan and the upcoming Cayman/Boxster EV and Panamera EV), the brand recently backtracked on its over-optimistic electric vehicle sales targets, and it appears that Porsche is once again committed to internal combustion engines for the foreseeable future. The Cayenne, for example, is expected to retain an internal combustion option until at least 2030. As for the 911, the T-Hybrid system introduced on the 992.2 Carrera 4 GTS, combines a gasoline engine with an electric motor and seems like a strategic move to extend the life of internal combustion engines for Porsche. But to me, it appears to be an excuse to delay the 911 EV. We all know that it will be the last model in Porsche’s lineup to go fully electric. Having said that, here’s why a compact 911, could serve as the base for both a smaller displacement combustion engine and an all-electric powertrain.

Porsche and Lamborghini are both under Volkswagen Group ownership and yet, what the two brands do with their sports cars has little to do with the mother company’s resources. Sure, the more mainstream models may rely heavily on VAG tech, but both sports car manufacturers do their own thing when it comes to their range-topping, high-performance models. Lamborghini recently introduced the Temerario – the company’s second hybrid model after the flagship Revuelto. Porsche also recently introduced hybrid powertrains to the 911, with the 992.2, mid-cycle refresh.

Porsche has announced a strategic partnership with Varta AG, a German battery manufacturer. Even as the broader EV industry faces headwinds, this counterintuitive strategy reflects Porsche’s long-term vision of dominating the high-performance electric vehicle segment. I say counterintuitive, because Porsche backtracked on its statement from 2020, that it wanted 30% of its sales to come from EVs by the end of the decade. Regardless, this move could shake things up for Tesla and other EV players.

Porsche prides itself on making some of the best-engineered road cars in the world. That said, electrification is becoming more wide-spread in the automotive industry and has even spread to the sports car segment. Many new high-performance models are hybrids and there are plenty of companies out there, already offering fully-electric performance cars. While Porsche is looking to prolong the life of the internal-combustion engine for as long as possible, the Geman brand’s strategy also involves electrifying 80 percent of its lineup by 2030. While this may not necessarily happen anytime soon, Porsche is about to give us its first EV sports car, in 2025.

With 1,019 horsepower, the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT is the most powerful road-legal Porsche ever. The Turbo GT trim packs a bunch of performance upgrades to make it more agile than the rest of the Taycan line-up. The competition in the shape of the 2024 Model S Plaid continues to hold its position as one of the quickest-production EVs in the world. While the Cyber Truck is grabbing all of the headlines currently, the Model S continues to be a comfortable and luxurious choice with the bonus of its supercar-like acceleration. Both of these EVs represent the pinnacle of EV technology offered by these respective brands, but the question remains, which one is faster in a straight line?

Porsche cars are some of the most well-engineered performance vehicles in the business. Each new model packs an extensive array of hi-tech features, aiming to make the Porsche driving experience more effortless. Those looking for the thrill of a high-revving Porsche 718 or 911 are all about the visceral driving experience, there are others looking for a more relaxed experience while still enjoying the performance that comes with a Porsche car. The company’s rear-axle steering is optional on all 911 and Panamera models, with some of the higher-end variants getting it as a standard feature. The first Porsche to feature rear-axle steering was the 2013 Porsche 718.

The Porsche 911 is a perfect representation of the classic sports car. The rear-engine model has been continuously evolving since its inception in 1964, and its lineage is easily traceable through its classic design. That said, under the pressure of increased safety and more modern tech, each new generation has become bigger and heavier. The 911 is no exception as the 992 generation is a far cry from the original models, barely touching 2,300 pounds. This is a follow-up to a recent interview with Porsche design boss, Michael Mauer where he talked about the possibility of a more compact 911 and a potential 911 E.V. We decided to envision a hypothetical, smaller variant of the Porsche 911 and take a look at how possible it is, and whether this will open the door for a fully-electric 911. Can the Porsche 911 as we know it co-exist with a smaller, but fully-electric version of itself?

Porsche may be known for its iconic sports cars, but in time and with help from its parent company, Volkswagen, the small German carmaker was given the chance to develop a more versatile lineup of vehicles, by utilizing the full arsenal of VAG resources. Porsche sports cars like the 911 and Boxster still remain "true” Porsches while all other models of the brand rely heavily on tech, borrowed from Volkswagen and Audi models.

Porsche is best known for its sports cars, predominantly the 911. The rear-engine model, although far from being the brand’s only performance car, shows continuous commitment to perfecting the classic, rear-engine design, we have all loved since 1964. While the 911 would remain as a gas-powered model for as long as possible, Porsche has diversified its lineup over the last two decades. Following the Boxster, Porsche introduced its first SUV, the Cayenne, and a few years later, in 2009, the Panamera high-performance sedan. One thing no one expects from Porsche is a minivan.

The Porsche 911 carries one of the most iconic and recognizable designs in the automotive world. The combination of simplicity, clever engineering, performance, and relative attainability has solidified it as the ultimate, daily-drivable sports car. Classic 911s, in particular, have a fanatic cult following. They are also some of the most popular platforms to be reimagined, which is why Porsche themselves have been playing catch up. Companies like Kalmar are taking the classic, air-cooled 911 formula and infusing it with modern tech while keeping the aesthetics and overall feel as close to the original form as possible.

The Porsche Macan finally emerges as an EV for the 2025 model year. The German brand, mostly associated with high-performance sports cars, has been firmly in the SUV game since 2002. The original Cayenne turned out to be the company’s saving grace and it was only a matter of time before a smaller version of the popular 4X4 model arrived. The Macan has been the entry-level Porsche SUV since 2014, and after 10 years and two mid-cycle refreshes, the second generation is here. The new, 2025 Porsche Macan doesn’t just mean a new generation for the SUV.

Back in 2004, Laurent Maman tragically passed away in an automobile accident while he was driving his beloved Polo GTI. For the past 20+ years, his friends have kept his memory alive through his car. Laurent was passionate about cars and loved his VW Polo which became the base platform for the Polo e-drive concept. For the past 10 years, this Polo has been transformed into an EV, with all of his friends contributing their expertise. Jerome of the Out Of Spec Renew YouTube Channel recently caught up with Julien LV, one of the creators of the Polo EDrive Concept, at the Players Classic Car Show in the U.K.

Two of the fastest production cars in the world go head-to-head in the latest video from the Hamilton Collection YouTube channel. Steve Hamilton, who owns the collection and his team went to great lengths to organize an epic showdown between a Bugatti Chiron and Rimac Nevera. They also needed a location for this historic race and chose the Space Coast Testing Facility, in Florida. This 3.0-mile long, 100-meter-wide stretch of pavement was originally a runway for landing space shuttles.

The 2024 Formula E World Championship witnessed a historic moment for Porsche. A thrilling race saw German Porsche works driver Pascal Wehrlein, crowned champion in a dramatic fight that went down to the wire. This marks a monumental achievement for Porsche, solidifying its position as a force to be reckoned with in the electric racing landscape after five seasons of relentless pursuit. Here’s a quick rundown on how things panned out in the final race.

Porsche and toy maker LEGO, have had a long and fruitful relationship for many years. The LEGO Technic versions of Porsche’s best models are incredibly life-like and have become collector’s items that have adorned many a desk. In the past, they have collaborated to create the LEGO Model 911 GT3 RS, which is made up of more than 2,700 parts. This year, both brands are collaborating to host the Porsche 4Kids Summer Program, at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. This year LEGO has developed a new Technic model of the Porsche GT4 ePerformance which will be the focus of the program this year.