The American electric car scene keeps getting more complex. With tariffs coming and tax credits going, the challenge of parsing consumer sentiment regarding electrified vehicles lies somewhere between forecasting weather and reading tea leaves. It’s no surprise, then, that Porsche’s EV product plan is a continually evolving slate, but we can now say for sure that its next emissions-free offering will be its biggest and potentially most powerful yet.
Meet the new Cayenne Electric. Like the Macan Electric before, this is neither a successor nor a replacement. It’s a battery-powered sibling that’ll live alongside the current Cayenne, available in both SUV and Coupe shapes, and giving shoppers a spectrum of choice spanning the purely gas-powered 348-horsepower 3.0-liter six-cylinder of the base Cayenne, the 591-horsepower plug-in hybrid augmented twin-turbo V8 of the Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid, and the three new all-electric offerings here.
Tech Brief
The Cayenne Electric’s internal designation is E4, meaning from a product planning standpoint, this is numerically the successor to the current E3 Cayenne. But, again, both will live on in dealer lots until the market decides that one or the other is the chosen SUV.
The Cayenne Electric rolls on a heavily revised version of the Premium Platform Electric (PPE) platform that also underpins the Macan Electric. PPE was co-developed with Audi and also provides the physical and digital bones for the Q6 E-Tron SUV. For the new Cayenne, though, Porsche’s engineers made some extensive modifications to the platform, at least in part to make room for the Cayenne’s bigger dimensions.
How much bigger? Sadly, we’ll have to wait a little longer for formal figures for wheelbase, weight, and everything else, but the revised platform, internally designated as PPE41C, makes room for a bigger battery. A new construction featuring pouch cells provides 113 kilowatt-hours gross capacity in the Cayenne Electric vs. 100 in the Macan. This, in turn, provides more range. While formal testing is still some time away, Porsche said to expect more than 600 kilometers on the European Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP) range test cycle. That equates to 373 miles, but since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) test cycle here in the U.S. is a bit harsher, we should expect somewhere closer to 300 miles of range.
Again, final range and performance figures are still to be determined, but I was told to expect a horsepower figure measuring in the four digits. That could make this Porsche’s most powerful production machine ever, one-upping its current champ, the 1,019-horsepower Taycan Turbo GT.
The electric Cayenne Turbo will be joined by the Cayenne S and a base Cayenne, with the sportier two offerings featuring a new rear motor design relying on technology developed for the company’s efforts in Formula E. These motors feature an internally cooled design relying on a composite mesh inserted between the stator and the rotor.
Oil is pumped through this mesh to more effectively extract heat from within the motor, leading to an astonishing 98 percent efficiency. That improved thermal management also means extended running at maximum performance without having to de-rate output. In theory, that should mean more consecutive laps run in anger, or more time spent at maximum speed on the Autobahn.
When it’s time to plug in, the Cayenne will feature a 400-kilowatt maximum charging rate, good enough to go from a 10 to 80 percent charge in 16 minutes. And, in case you’ve been wondering when Porsches will start sporting North American Charging Standard (NACS) ports, wonder no longer. American Cayenne Electrics will charge via the Tesla-style plug.
The final number we don’t yet know is pricing, but I was told that Porsche hopes to sticker this thing as aggressively as possible, keeping the premium over the traditional Cayenne slim. With many buyers still struggling to take the plunge on an EV, price parity would certainly go a long way toward taking obstacles off the table.
On & Off the Road
The rural roads in the Catalan portion of Spain are light in color, twisted in character, and thin in profile, a little like strands of angel hair spaghetti draped over the Pyrenean foothills. They’re delightfully charming but so very narrow that you’re left holding your breath whenever you meet an oncoming car.
It’s territory better suited for something with the dimensions of a 718 than those of an E4 Cayenne. Still, it wasn’t long before I felt comfortable swinging the big SUV through the turns, clipping apexes, and zipping past slower traffic, showing just how reassuring the handling of Porsche’s big SUV proved over the course of a day in the saddle.
Steering is typically firm, well-weighted, and sharp with a decent amount of feel and feedback considering it’s an SUV, not a sports car. Likewise, the suspension offered a good mix of comfort and corner-carving ability, especially if you went for the Porsche Active Ride suspension.
I sampled a few Cayennes with that optional setup, and it’s just as capable here as it is elsewhere in the Porsche lineup. The Cayenne, of course, doesn’t spring to attention when you open the doors as the Taycan and Panamera do. There’s simply no need for Easy Entry mode in a vehicle of this height. Still, in Comfort mode, it does an admirable job of keeping the car leaning the right way to minimize disturbance for you and your passengers.
Dial it over to Sport Plus, though, and the Cayenne gets lower and far more firm, Active Ride proving incredibly capable in both scenarios. However, I have to say that even the SUV’s base air suspension was quite impressive. Don’t tick any boxes and you’ll get Porsche’s dual-chamber system with Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), which over the uneven Spanish roads proved very nearly as good.
Likewise, SUVs with active rear-axle steering were far easier to maneuver at low speeds. But, regardless of suspension and how many wheels could turn, the Cayenne Electric delivered the same kind of surprising agility that the SUV has become known for over the years.
But no Cayenne before has ever accelerated like this. The Turbo, with somewhere north of 1,000 horsepower, is quick enough to end all conversation in the car when you get hard on the accelerator. Tap the sport response button on the steering wheel for 10 seconds of maximum power, and then let loose. It’s eye-opening, enough to make the 22-inch, 315-section-width performance tires at the back of the Cayenne Turbo struggle for grip at any speed. (The front wheels wear 275s.)
The Cayenne S is clearly less ballistic, but still remarkably quick, providing plenty of power to launch the SUV into the briefest of gaps in traffic. The base Cayenne won’t blow minds like the more powerful alternatives, but it’s no slouch, with Porsche’s engineers estimating a 0-60 time below five seconds. The Turbo? The official estimate is somewhere below three seconds, but I’d guess it may come in closer to 2.5.
After a few hours winding through the hills on paved roads, we made a stopover at one of Porsche’s off-road proving grounds to go a little deeper in the terrain and see if the E4 maintains the Cayenne’s history of off-road capabilities.
At an off-road testing facility in Bassella, we cruised through a series of increasingly challenging obstacles that frequently saw us summiting challenges with one wheel stuck high in the air.
In Off Road II mode, the Cayenne gains about four inches in height, providing extra clearance for the obstacles ahead. But, to really maximize capability, the Cayenne Electric will continue to offer the Off-Road package. This will include additional underbody protection plus an abbreviated front fascia and rear diffuser, boosting approach and departure angles.
With this package, the Cayenne Electric scampered up and over the terrain with little issue. Even with one wheel in the air, the differentials and traction management systems ensured that the SUV maintained forward progress using whatever grip it could manage from those wheels still on the ground. EV off-roading can be an absolute joy, and the Cayenne Electric can be quite good.
When it comes to how the new Cayenne looks, that’s a little hard to say. Porsche’s all-black everything camouflage, plus some extra shrouds over sensitive areas of the bodywork, does a remarkably good job of hiding its look.
Each of the three Cayenne Electric trims will have its own front and rear bumper designs, but only the Turbo will get something special: A new type of active aerodynamics never seen on a Porsche before. A pair of vertical slats protrude from the rear bumper, one on either side of the SUV. At speeds above 60 km/h (37 mph), these slats move outward and rearward, providing what Porsche engineers said is a 0.006 improvement in the coefficient of drag, enough to add roughly seven miles of range.
The SUV also gets a small, deployable wing along the top of the hatch, but it’s those slats that will catch the most attention, each embossed with a set of GPS coordinates: 48°51’05.7"N 8°53’50.2"E. Plug them into your mapping software of choice and you’ll find yourself looking down on the wind tunnel at Porsche Engineering Services in Mönsheim, Germany.
You’ll have to decide for yourself how the rest of the exterior will look without camouflage, but I can say the interior has some significant changes. Most notable is a new central touchscreen that bends dramatically to follow the differing profiles of the dashboard and center console. It has a roughly 45-degree kink in the middle, a gentle fold enabled by its organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology.
This gives it a strange look, but in practice, it’s a delight to use. Porsche’s software engineers focused most of the buttons, sliders, and other controls towards the bottom portion of the display, which lies in line with the shape of the center console. There’s also a padded wrist rest there, meaning you can rest your hand and tap through the car’s many settings. It’s excellent.
If that’s not enough, a passenger display can optionally be embedded in the far right of the dashboard. We’ve seen those before, but there’s a new trick making its debut on the Cayenne Electric: powered doors. Give either the inner or outer door handle a light tug, and the door swings itself open or closed. The driver’s door can also close itself after you when you put a foot on the brake.
I can’t say this added a lot to the experience for me, and the extra resistance added by the motors just made it even slower and harder to get in or out of the SUV when I didn’t want to wait for the powered assist. Thankfully, powered doors are optional, and while there’s still time for this aspect to improve, right now it’s not a box I’d be eager to tick on my order form.
The Verdict
Like the Macan Electric before it, the new Cayenne Electric is destined to live alongside its internal combustion brethren in showrooms. It’s great to offer customers an option, but a few minutes behind the wheel of the Cayenne Electric should be enough to convince most that the E4 is the way to go.
I was left with little doubt after my time behind the wheel, but that still leaves the decision of which trim. While the new Turbo and its ballistic acceleration were addictive, I can’t say it was necessarily my favorite. The Cayenne S is still superbly quick and composed, but the base model still offered effortless performance and no shortage of charm. Regardless of power output or suspension setup, each and every one of the EV prototypes felt comprehensively designed and immaculately tuned, which is a great sign for when they enter production in 2026.
Choice is a wonderful thing, but after a day of wheeling prototypes of all flavors of next year’s Cayenne Electric, I can’t fathom why anyone would want combustion in their next SUV.
