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Porsche Reveals Electric Version of Cayman GT4 Racer

All-electric version of Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 undergoing track testing in Europe…

Photo: Porsche

Porsche has revealed the 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance, an electric race car that has completed test mileage using components envisioned in last year’s Mission R concept.

The all-wheel-drive electric Cayman, which uses the same chassis as the conventional GT4 model, has a maximum power output of 735 kW (985 hp) and features a drivetrain based on a permanently excited synchronous machine, or PESM, on both axles.

Its performance has been likened to that of a 992-generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, with the potential for it to complete a 30-minute racing stint at a continuous 450 kW (603 hp).

According to Porsche, 900-volt technology enables the battery’s state of charge at full capacity to jump from 5 percent to 80 percent in 15 minutes.

An oil cooling system has been installed to minimize thermal derating.

“The integration of oil cooling has significantly impacted the vehicle concept,” said Bjorn Forster, GT4 ePerformance project manager.

“With experts in the fields of aerodynamics and thermodynamics as well as high-voltage and bodywork specialists, the development team created an architecture to tap the full potential of the battery cells for the first time, since there is no thermal derating.

“In this way, the power output in racing mode remains constant for half an hour.

The 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance will soon embark on a global tour, starting with a public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 23-26, followed by an appearance at the 20th-anniversary celebration of the Porsche factory in Leipzig.

Two demonstration vehicles will move around Europe this year, before heading to North America in 2023 and the Asia-Pacific region where they will tour until mid-2024.

Transportation for the global tour will be “logistically optimized” according to Porsche, with all transit carried out by ship, train and truck rather than air freight.

“With the Mission R, we’ve shown how Porsche envisages sustainable customer motor racing in the future,” said Matthias Scholz, Porsche’s GT racing vehicle project manager.

“The 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance now demonstrates that this vision works impressively on the racetrack.

“We’re very excited about the response because a one-make cup with electric racing cars would be an important addition to our existing customer racing program.”

The electric Cayman racing model’s foundations lie in the Mission R concept, which was unveiled at the 2021 IAA Mobility exhibition in Munich.

Porsche’s Head of Motorsport Thomas Laudenbach has previously suggested that the Mission R could form the groundwork for a future electric single-make series.

“The 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance blazes a trail to Porsche customer racing with electrically-powered racing cars,” said ePerformance project manager Oliver Schwab.

“As a first step, we will unveil this concept to our global partners.

“With drivers, teams, organizers, authorities and other interested parties, we’re also gathering ideas for Porsche racing formats in the future.”

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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