Porsche Cayenne Electric prototype review: not even finished but it's still good

Ooh, are these spy pics?

Sort of, if you discount the fact we were standing next to the car and Porsche sent the pictures over. It’s been cleverly disguised, but this is the prototype version of the all new Cayenne that Porsche’s finest engineers have been testing around the world for months now – and of course it only makes sense to get Top Gear along to help sign the thing off.

Wait, that’s not arriving until 2026.

Look at you with your in-depth knowledge of upcoming industry products. These things take time, though – and you just know Porsche is entirely staffed by people who did their assignments on the first night they got them.

And the development team has put in the hard hours (in this case in delightfully sunny Spain) to ensure the Cayenne Electric overachieves everywhere. It has to, because it’s a Porsche and that sort of thing is expected. That doesn’t diminish the achievement or the effort though – it already feels like a class act driving half a year ahead of its final sign-off, and the mere fact we’re sitting behind the wheel demonstrates Porsche’s quiet confidence.

So how does it drive?

You’re probably hoping to read that it’s all gone wrong and Porsche has finally produced an absolute dog, but sorry – even in its unfinished stage the Cayenne Electric feels smooth, refined and capable.

One engineer we spoke to said the ‘Porsche feel’ was the most important part to them, and it all feels fine so far. There’s fancy active air suspension available that works magic over rough roads, but even the boggo base spec cars will come on dual chamber air suspension. Probably necessary when you’ve got a 2.7 tonne SUV sporting a 108kWh battery.

Likewise with the accelerator pedal, the power is dished out carefully and progressively, with none of the wall of torque you get in most EVs. There’s power if you want it – the Turbo version is an absolute beast, but Porsche has worked to make it as usable as possible.

You get the impression talking to the engineers that rather than lamenting the loss of combustion engines they’re relishing the opportunities electric powertrains bring them – there’s 600kW of regen available on the new Cayenne so you rarely need to trouble the disc brakes even with a firm press of the left pedal.

Give me some numbers.

If you insist – though of course these aren’t final. Porsche says up to 373 miles of range (that’ll be from the entry version), the Turbo car can get to 62mph from rest in sub-3.0secs (and 124mph in less than 10secs), on to a top speed of 155mph. And all that with a 90-litre frunk. Who says you can’t be fast and practical?

The speed is thanks to over 986bhp in the Turbo’s ‘Overboost’ mode, where it unleashes hell for strictly limited periods (so nothing overheats and blows up) with a press of a steering wheel button.

We drove around the hills near the Idiada proving ground outside Barcelona in convoy, so it’s not at all scientific, but we saw 2.4mpkWh from a brief run in the Turbo and 3.0mpkWh in the base car. The 108kWh (usable) battery will charge at up to 400kW if you can find a suitable plug, which means 10 to 80 per cent charge in less than 16 minutes. Bonkers.

Does it actually go off road?

Well, anything can go off road, it's getting back that can prove tricky. These cars will likely be the only examples of the Cayenne Electric that actually go off-roading, but owners will be gratified to know they could spank the car around the wilderness if they wanted to.

Having driven one round an off-road track we’re firmly of the opinion that every owner should be forced to take their car for a topographically challenging jaunt just so they know what their money has bought. Although whatever they’ve spent on the glistening paint job will immediately rule that out.

The electric powertrain offers impressive flexibility for off-road adventures, thanks to a combination of fancy suspension, computers that more or less run the show and the lack of exposed mechanical bits underneath the car. There are batteries, sure, but you’ll be able to spec an off-road package with a bit of underbody protection and revised front bumpers for drastically improved angles.

What’s it like inside?

We’re not allowed to show you the inside of the car yet (although you can see a picture of Cayenne boss Michael Schätzle sitting inside one of the prototypes in the gallery up top), but we did get a sneak peek underneath the thick felt blankets covering the dash and rear seats and they didn’t say we weren’t allowed to describe it.

The most striking part up front is the new curved infotainment screen. We didn’t get a chance to measure it, but it’s notably petite, deftly sidestepping the dashboard space race by constraining its size and offering a delightfully modish curve, like a folding phone left half open. It’s not a gimmick, even if it sounds like one at first – Porsche has designed the screen so you can really take advantage of the design.

There’s a cushioned rest for your wrist to lean on that helps on the move. Menus appear on the lower part of the curved section while maps, graphics and displays sit above. It’s all integrated nicely into the flow of the dashboard instead of glued obtusely on top.

Anything else that’s interesting inside?

Other neat touches are the cavernous central console storage (filled here by monitoring equipment and big red emergency stop buttons that won’t be there on production versions), nifty diamond shortcut buttons on the steering wheel and to the side of the digital instrument panel that you can configure at will (but are best used for turning off the legally mandated safety bongs).

Or there’s the electrostatic panoramic sunroof (trim/options list dependent) that changes the glass pattern or blocks out the sun with an enthusiastic jab of a button. Now this is a gimmick, but a fun one. We also drove an S model with electric doors – they’re worth whatever Porsche is going to charge for them for the entertainment value alone. Fingers crossed you’ll never bosh someone’s door in a packed car park ever again.

The rear seats and boot are as roomy as you would expect from Porsche’s chonker in chief, and the materials all have the swanky solidity you would demand from a pricey flagship German SUV.

When can I get one?

Well, we were happy to say to Porsche that it could go ahead with the new car, so the Cayenne Electric will be available in late spring/early summer 2026. Initially it’ll be just the base spec Cayenne Electric model and top spec Turbo on sale, with the S trim and the sleeker looking coupe version following a few months later.

Don’t like the electric car? Much like it did with the smaller Macan, Porsche will be giving the existing petrol car a hefty going over to keep it in touch with its fancy new sibling so it can stay on sale a few more years yet. Got to keep those late adopters happy.