Porsche dives back into ICE as EV rollout pushed back

Porsche is rolling back its EV plans and promising new ICE cars well into the 2030s, including the new K1 as an ICE-powered Super SUV.

Car manufacturers in Europe are between a rock and a hard place with the forced rollout of EVs mandated by legislation, particularly in the UK and Europe, with a real danger that many will not survive and an industry that is the bedrock of economies will crumble.

Just like all legacy car makers, Porsche has been trying to convince its customer base that the future for Porsche is EVs, but despite the Taycan being an impressive car, it has not been the success Porsche hoped for, with sales down by 49% in 2024 and used models crashing in value.

Now, Porsche has announced a ‘realignment of its product strategy’ which effectively sidelines EV development and focuses on keeping current ICE models on sale ‘well into the 2030s’ and new ICE models too.

Perhaps the biggest indicator of this change of direction is the news that the Porsche K1 – a Super SUV to sit above the Cayenne – which was planned to sit on a new EV Platform and be an EV-only, will now arrive with both ICE and PHEV powertrains, but no electric option, with the new SSP 61 Platform it was suppsed to use pushed back into the next decade.

The new Cayenne Electric and Macan Electric are already in play, but Porsche says there will be new ICE versions to come, as well as a new ICE Panamera, and it looks like the upcoming 718 Electric will also have ICE versions at the top end.

Porsche CEO Dr. Oliver Blume said:

We have set the final steps in the realignment of our product strategy. We are currently experiencing massive changes within the automotive environment. That’s why we’re realigning Porsche across the board.

This change of direction comes at a cost, with Porsche saying halting development of the SSP 61 Platform will cost €1.8 billion, and VW declaring Porsche’s change of direction will put a €5.1 billion dent in profits.