Porsche has unveiled the 4th generation of the Cayenne, it’s all-electric, and it just happens to be the most powerful thing ever to leave Porsche’s factory gate. We got to take a look at it in advance of the unveil.
The Cayenne is Porsche’s large SUV, which at its introduction was the brand’s first foray into four-door vehicles. Over the course of its first three generations, it’s been quite successful for the company, but now it’s entering a whole new electric era for the fourth generation.
The gas and plug-in hybrid versions are getting an update too, but the 4th-generation moniker is exclusive to the electric version. Our Porsche rep told us that this feels like the first time Porsche has made an EV that happens to be a Porsche, rather than a Porsche that happens to be an EV. Despite sharing a nameplate with the gas Cayenne, the EV has some big differences.
The big headline here is that the Cayenne EV, in upgraded Turbo spec, is the most powerful Porsche ever to be mass produced. There are others which have been faster of course (as an SUV is not a sportscar), and there are more powerful one-off racecars (such as the 919 Hybrid EVO, which beats the Cayenne by… 5hp), but this is the one that normal customers can buy with the highest horsepower rating.
And despite just being unveiled, it has already earned some racing kudos in camouflage form. When Porsche brought it to a hillclimb in the UK this summer, it smashed the times by every gas SUV ever.
Last week, in advance of Porsche’s official showing of the car, we got a studio sneak peek of a late development version of it, and learned all the details of the coming changes to the popular Porsche model. No drives just yet, but we did get to look at it inside and out.
Porsche Cayenne Electric specs
Its 1,139hp and 1,106 lb-ft of torque gives it a 0-60 time of 2.4 seconds and a top speed of 162mph. That said, the full horsepower is only available in launch control mode, whereas normal driving will give you 844hp with an available 10-second 173hp boost through a push-to-pass button on the steering wheel.
Porsche says it has transferred some innovations from its Formula E team to the Cayenne’s drive system, using direct oil cooling on the rear motor and having the same 600kW of regen that current Formula E cars are capable of. That said, it still won’t have one-pedal driving, and that regen will be on the brake pedal (boo, give us a one-pedal mode, Porsche).
The base model Cayenne EV is still no slouch, with 402hp in normal operation and 435hp in launch control mode, which will get you from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 143mph. Its top regen power is 345kW.
The battery for both is 113kWh (nominal), with WLTP range of 399mi for the base version and 387mi for the Turbo (EPA numbers aren’t available yet, but will be lower). It uses 800V tech to charge from 10-80% in 16 minutes at up to 400kW (or 200kW and 34 minutes on a 400V charger). The car will show a live estimate of its charge curve; when we saw it, it estimated 327kW at 41%.
DC charging happens through a NACS/J3400 port on the driver’s side (a CCS adapter is included), while AC charging happens with a J1772 port on the passenger side – possibly a little confusing to newbies, but Porsche is confident its customers will be able to figure it out. And the driver’s side port is in the same position as the Tesla port, which should make Supercharger use relatively simple. (It also means no plastic bit for the optional electric charge port door to get stuck on – I continue to recommend the manual door)
Exterior & interior changes – much more space
The exterior on the EV has several different design features (entirely different grille, more aerodynamic elements in the rear), the layout of the interior screens is different (and larger), and the electric has a lot more interior space due to a 2in (5cm) longer body and 5in (13cm) longer wheelbase.
This results in no shortage of legroom in both front and back (and both the front and back seats are electrically adjustable). But then, at 196 inches long, you’d hope there’d be room for two rows (for comparison, the Lucid Gravity is 1.9 inches longer and fits three rows with adult-level legroom).
And as we’ve come to expect out of EVs, there’s a frunk (and quite a deep one, at that), and an additional under-floor storage area in the back to keep things like charge cables out of the way. The EV has a bigger trunk than the gas version, plus the additional frunk – though with the seats folded down, the EV has a little less space than the gas model.
A number of electric-specific improvements have been made to the exterior of the Cayenne, with a smoother grille with louvered intakes to improve aerodynamics. In addition, the rear has an adjustable spoiler-like feature above the rear window, and rather unique “active aero blades” in the form of two extending flaps at the rear (on the Turbo version only).
These supposedly help to channel air around the back end and reduce drag, perhaps to help avoid the “egg-like” smooth exterior of many modern SUVs. They don’t look like they’d work that much to me, but the wind tunnel doesn’t lie – the Cayenne EV has a Cd of 0.25.
Although that’s likely to change a lot based on which of the nine 20-22″ wheel designs you pick (I, as always, would pick the most aerodynamic ones, which have a big effect on efficiency).
Which brings up the customizability of the Cayenne EV, which Porsche says is more customizable than any Cayenne yet. It comes in 13 colors, 9 wheel designs, 12 interior combinations, 5 interior packages and 5 accent packages. Porsche also offers paint-to-sample options for a completely custom build. And that customizability transfers through to the car’s user interface as well.
Tech & user interface – customizable everything
In addition to interior customizations through options and accent packages, the Cayenne’s user interface features excessive customization everywhere. I loved this about the Macan EV, and I like it here too.
The Cayenne EV features the largest amount of screen space Porsche has ever offered, with displays for the driver, curved OLED display in the center, and an optional driver display.
While there has been somewhat of a backlash against giant screens lately, Porsche still offers physical controls for volume and HVAC.
In addition, the curved OLED offers a comfortable and customizable way to access various interface buttons. There’s a wrist rest to help you reach the screen, and you can move just about any interface element onto the bottom part of the screen.
The curved screen also solves a problem I had with the Macan EV – between Porsche’s own in-car Porsche Communication Management (PCM) UI, its CarPlay app, and regular CarPlay, this can lead to some amount of confusion/redundancy between various interfaces. But having a screen with two “regions” means that you can have CarPlay on one and PCM on the other, which means you don’t need to lose access to one to use the other.
I still think that a really slick, polished single user interface is the best path in general for automakers, but this is a good compromise – allowing those who feel they need CarPlay to use it, while also keeping access to the vast customizability of Porsche’s interface and full access to vehicle information.
Full access to vehicle status is important for things like charge routing – and Porsche’s UI offers extensive customizability there too, letting you individually set to prefer or avoid each charge network. (It does, however, default to having gas stations show on the map as a “point of interest,” and we found no way to individually turn them off… but at least they disappear on the wider zoom levels at which you’d normally be looking for charging)
The coolest tech feature is Porsche’s Augmented Reality HUD. We only got to see the AR HUD briefly in the studio, and didn’t actually get to drive around and use it. But from previous experience with the Macan EV, it’s one of the coolest things that I’ve used in a car. Other HUDs feel gimmicky, but this one actually gives you really useful new information, like live directions floating over the road in front of you so you never miss a turn.
You can even customize how much sun you’re getting, as the glass roof is electrochromic. There are various patterns available, going from full clear to full matte or partial shade for the front or back.
All in all, due to these customizations, Porsche has one of the better user interfaces of the various incumbent auto manufacturers. The menus can be a little arcane and overwhelming in their detail, but the amount of detail and customizability is unparalleled.
Inductive charging – a first?
Cayenne has another charging innovation – an available 11kW AC inductive charging mat, which we think might be the first to be offered by an EV manufacturer in the US (not as an aftermarket option). This mat can be placed in your garage or driveway to allow for wireless charging simply by driving over the mat.
Porsche says the system is impressively ~90% efficient (which still means about twice the energy loss of plug charging, at ~95% efficiency). Release timing and pricing are TBD (though in Europe, it’s priced at 7k Euros, including the ~33lbs of additional components on the car and the charging mat).
I personally think that conductive (plug) charging will remain the dominant form, but inductive does have its niches, and if we’re thinking about a fully autonomous future, inductive will likely be a relevant charging solution at some point, so Porsche’s work here will be useful. And if anyone’s going to introduce a €7k charging mat, it might as well be a company whose customers may balk less at that admittedly high price.
Electrek’s Take
Our Porsche rep used the phrase that they wanted to make the Cayenne “better because it’s electric,” which is something I’ve said many times and thus was quite glad to hear.
I’ve long bristled against VW Group’s general strategy of providing a car that just happens to be electric, but our Porsche rep told us that “it feels like we’re making an EV that happens to be a Porsche instead of a Porsche that happens to be EV” – which is a statement that’s so up my alley that I’m wondering if he tailored it specifically to me.
We’ll have to see how that plays out when it comes down to the ownership/drive experience though. While the Macan EV had great dynamics as one would expect of a Porsche, I still found a number of odd foibles that made me feel like Porsche hadn’t fully committed to the electric experience. If those have been ironed out with this next generation of EV, then Porsche could make it to the front of the pack (but please give us a one-pedal driving mode…)
However, on a corporate level, Porsche’s commitment to electric has recently come into question. The company recently committed to $6 billion loss by delaying some EV models, even as global EV demand rises and gas car demand slows.
Porsche itself is also seeing rising EV sales and dropping gas car sales, and is selling more electric Macans than gas ones. Porsche’s CEO, Oliver Blume, has been advocating for Europe to roll back emissions standards as demand for gas cars continues its long-term decline… and as climate change continues apace, fueled by the products he’s lobbying for more of.
So we’ll have to see which of those two influences is stronger with the Cayenne – Porsche’s desire to make a car that’s “better because it’s electric,” versus its CEO’s apparent desire to pump the brakes on the electric transition. You can guess which side Electrek would like to see more of, and we’ll get a chance to see more about what progress has been made next year when the car hits the road.
Either way, having an EV be the most powerful vehicle ever made by one of the world’s storied racing brands still does make a significant statement about commitment to EV powertrains. The myth of EVs being underpowered should be well and truly dead by now, but putting out a family SUV with 1,139hp certainly puts a strong period on the end of that sentence.
The Porsche Cayenne will start US deliveries in late summer 2026, starting at $109,000 for the base Electric version, and $163,000 for the Turbo Electric.
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