UPDATE: March 27, 2026 Removed video embed due to non-functional video, added relevant 718 Cayman pricing information.Despite near-constant rumors of its death, Porsche is apparently still hard at work developing the next-generation 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster sports cars. Spotted on video recently at the Nürburgring, the new 718 looks like it may be wearing near-production bodywork, indicating Porsche is close to finishing the model family's development. And notable by its absence in the video is any kind of engine noise – yep, you guessed it, the next Cayman and Boxster are gonna be all-electric. Pour One Out For The Side Air Vents Stateside Supercars on YouTubeUnfortunately, the original video was removed from YouTube but screenshots of the action still exist. The first visual clue that Porsche is continuing to develop an electric 718 replacement is that the body is rather smooth, especially around the rear. Since their respective launches, the Cayman and Boxster have had a mid-mounted, water-cooled engine with side-mounted radiators that breathed through vents behind each front door. The vehicle caught at the 'Ring has no such body openings, instead sporting smooth rear quarter panels that have tacked-on camouflage plastic to hide the production bodywork underneath.The Cayman prototype instead takes whatever powertrain cooling it needs from a massive grille array on the front bumper, with an angular vane design borrowed from the contemporary 911 Carrera family. There also looks to be a small radiator peeking through the center vent up front, which could be there to keep the battery at a consistent, even temperature. It could also serve as a heat exchanger for the rumored, optional front-axle motor that would turn it into the first all-wheel-drive Cayman in history. No Combustion Noises To Be Heard Stateside Supercars on YouTubeIn addition to the obvious styling alterations made to the next-generation 718, the now-deleted video revealed what many enthusiasts have feared: There isn't a combustion engine hiding under that low-slung bodywork. When accelerating out of corners, the Cayman prototype emitted a faint, electric whine, with rumbling noises coming from the curbing instead of the car. Despite rumors that Porsche is considering developing a hybrid or pure-combustion version of the next-gen sports car, the vehicle seen here is almost assuredly electric.That said, we'll give the 718 EV a chance when it comes to market. Porsche developed the platform it rides on specifically for a sports car use case, rather than adapting an existing electric architecture. The Cayman and Boxster are also reputed to share their technological particulars with the production version of the Audi Concept C. The automaker has said that it anticipates the 718 Cayman and Boxster to be impressively light when they arrive, likely thanks to advanced structural materials like high-strength steel, aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber.It's also possible that Porsche will arrange the 718 EV's battery in such a way that the car will still "feel" mid-engined. By stacking cells behind the passenger cabin (in the space that was once earmarked for an engine), the electric sports car could still have the communicative steering, quick turn-in, and neutral handling that we love so much about its gas-powered predecessors. Gas Cayman Is Still In Demand The problem facing Porsche (and most automakers hedging towards electric replacements of gas models) is that demand isn't going away for combustion cars. As we can see in our pricing trends, the current 718 Cayman is holding strong and is a clear moneymaker for Porsche. Removing it for an electric version will almost certainly have a negative impact on Porsche's bottom line.All that said, global demand for luxury-branded electric cars in general has been lukewarm for a while now, and automakers (including Porsche) have been altering their electrification strategy to match the market. The German automaker, for example, has committed to offering gas-fired versions of the Cayenne and Macan through the first part of the next decade at least, and there's a part of us that hopes the 718 platform can be retrofitted to accept a sonorous flat-six powerplant. We'll see.