According to a tweet this morning from EA's official Need for Speed twitter account, you won't be able to play the upcoming reboot of the series (simply called need For Speed) without an Internet connection. Responding to a tweet about past games requiring being connected to an EA server, EA responded by confirming that it was true.
"NFS will require an online connection, but the benefits are nice. More variety and a more rewarding experience with friends," EA said on Twitter.