Porsche Cayenne Electric review

A pure electric Cayenne with a 113kWh (108 usable) battery, 360-399 miles of official range and a maximum of 1,140bhp and over 1,100lb ft of torque in Turbo guise. Porsche’s most powerful production roadcar ever. Some punchy numbers, huh?

A motor on each axle gives AWD, next-gen traction control and stability control the ability to hit 62mph from rest in 2.5 seconds for the headline car. Which is incidentally the same official time as the 911 Turbo S, despite weighing 2,650kg. Without hyperbole, it feels violently motivated from a standstill with full Launch Control.

There’s a lovely interior (which you can read more about – drumroll please – in the Interior section of this review), huge space and liveability. It’s also practical, with sophisticated, double-sided thermal management for the power pack that allows for monster charging; 10-80 per cent in less than 16 minutes. Though in practical experience on a big enough charger it was actually slightly faster than that.

Sounds… like a lot?

And yet if you don’t poke the bear, it doesn’t feel like it. Under normal circumstances, the Turbo has ‘just’ 850-ish bhp, which is still a chunky amount, but you have a handy metering system just under your right foot. The ‘push to pass’ button on the bottom of the right-hand-side of the wheel adds another 175bhp if you need to make smart overtakes, but it’s not until you engage Launch Control from a standstill do you get the full complement of tarmac-bruising ability.

The standard Cayenne Electric – the only other version on sale in the UK at the moment – gets 400bhp with an overboost of 442bhp, 0-62mph in just under five seconds and 399 miles of possible range. A lot less power and half the speed, but also £47,700 cheaper at current prices, and it’s not exactly slow.

The good bits about the electric Cayenne are manifold though; it’s easy to use, comfy to do distance in and very practical. With a side order of sports car. 

It doesn’t look like it’s that fast, to be honest. 

Probably the Cayenne Electric’s weakest point is the styling. Like the electric Macan, the Cayenne feels slightly too soft-edged when looked at head on – a touch generic. It’s better in profile and neat from the rear, but not striking.

You can see the theory here; what’s not fashionable won’t go out of fashion, but most feel slightly ambivalent to the way it looks. The Turbo gets more strakes/shutters and small aero-enhancing ‘blades’ that pop out backwards from the rear wheelarches at speed like thick wheelbarrow handles, plus bigger wheels. But in a muted colour, this is one Porsche that can slide right by.

And the wide lightbar on the back with the illuminated manufacturer logo in the middle can be seen echoed on larger VW SUVs. Porsche could have been different here.

Option it up in a brighter colour and decent wheels and it gets more gumption, but this isn’t the kind of car you frame on a bedroom wall. Interestingly, Porsche now offers colours in various teams: Contrasts, Shades, Dreams, Legends and paint-to-sample. And yes, Oak Green Metallic from ‘Legends’ really does look good. But avoid the ‘California Gold’ wheels unless you’re feeling exceptionally confident.

How practical is it?

Very. And as this is supposed to be the most practical Porsche, it matters. In pure space terms there’s an absolutely massive boot at 747 litres, with a decent 1,554 if you put the rear seats down, plus a very generous 90-litre frunk up front. Rear space is good for people of pro basketball height, and the electric heated/cooled front seats will accommodate any shape of human.

The air suspension copes with a whole range of situations from cosseting motorway cruising to firm B-road blasts, to raised off-road crawling. And it’ll tow 3,500kg if you option the off-road pack.

On the practicality of charging, it’s a convenience king. There are AC charging ports both sides, with the left-hand side also dealing with DC. A battery with double-sided thermal management means pre-conditioning is a doddle, and if you can find a big enough charger, the electric Cayenne charges as fast as anything we’ve ever tested.

On a 400kW charger in Germany, it hit a peak of 389kW, charged from 11 or 12 pe rcent to past 80 in around 15 minutes. Barely enough time to check emails or answer texts. You can also option inductive charging for home use; just have the induction pad fitted and park over it for max lack-of-cables overnight volts.

What’s the experience like?

In the main, rounded. Tootle about without using the power and the Cayenne Electric is quiet (though you can make it sound like a remarkably convincing V8 if you choose), comfortable and solid. It’s unflappable at speed – we took the Turbo to its 162mph maximum on de-restricted autobahn and it was almost dull – and confident through more challenging corners.

It’s not got absolute dynamism when you go really fast on a tight road, the steering gets a little less chatty and the weight starts to persuade wider lines, but the rear-wheel steer works without feeling too fake – unless you’re in a carpark and then it feels like the rear is on castors.

Dynamically and for the sheer range of ability, it’s very impressive. And that’s before the acceleration party trick, which is dramatic enough to make passengers go very quiet. Although that’s possibly because they have either a) swallowed their own tongue or b) died of shock.

Photography: Alex Tapley

The best sporting electric SUV on the market, even if that does sound like a terrible reach of an oxymoron. The Cayenne Turbo Electric has monumental horsepower and the accompanying acceleration, but it’s actually a much more nuanced car than the Top Trumps headlines would suggest. There’s real depth of ability, not just a headline-grabbing drag racer.

In fact, once you spend some time with the interior tech and space, you really do start to see where this thing could be a very tidy all-rounder. Add to that some excellent charging nous and huge general convenience and it’s incredibly compelling.

No, it’s not immediately the most striking of designs, and there’s only so far you can push the digital wizardry to get a 2.6-tonne high-riding SUV to compromise on all the extremity, but it has a bloomin’ good go at it.

We’ll wait for final judgement when the standard Electric is driven – the suspicion is that it’s probably the best compromise and value – but so far, the Turbo sets a high bar.