The Porsche Cayenne EV Skipped An Entire Prototype Stage Thanks To AI

• Porsche tested the Cayenne EV virtually using AI and simulations much more than with any other previous model.
• This saved some 120 prototypes from being built and then subsequently destroyed through and after testing.
• The electric Cayenne was developed around 20% quicker thanks to virtual testing.

Porsche will unveil its first electric Cayenne at the end of the year to sit alongside the combustion model. The Cayenne EV will be built on the same 800-volt Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) as the electric Macan, but developing and testing the larger model took less time and resources thanks to the extensive use of computer simulations and even artificial intelligence.

“This project was the first in which we went directly from digital complete vehicle testing to pre-series production,” Porsche’s Deputy Chairman Michael Steiner said in a recent statement about the development of the electric Cayenne.

This allowed the manufacturer to completely eliminate the early prototype construction phase, meaning some 120 prototype vehicles didn’t have to be built to be then slowly destroyed through (or after) testing.

“Engineers sent virtual prototypes on digital test drives as early as the design phase,” Porsche explained. “The results of the digital tests were later verified with test bench tests of real, physical components.”

Photo by: Porsche

Porsche used virtual reality extensively, too, giving designers and engineers a good impression of how various parts look and work before they are physically built. It also tested vehicles virtually on extremely accurate digital replicas of roads and tracks like the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

Sascha Niesen, vehicle testing boss at the Porsche Development Center in Weissach, notes that humans always check the results of simulation tests, saying, “In reality, only humans can add the final touches.”

As technology continues to improve, less and less human intervention and checking will be needed, but Porsche says using AI and simulations to the extent that it did has shortened the development time of the electric Cayenne by around 20% and saved it considerable resources. It also helped lessen the development cycle’s environmental impact and material requirements, which is always great to hear.

Still, when it comes to testing charging in extreme temperatures, there’s only so much you can do in a simulation. You have to get actual prototypes to scorching and freezing temperatures and see what impact they have on charging. How quickly it replenishes range was very important for the engineers developing the Cayenne EV, which promises to charge very quickly regardless of ambient temperature and without needing to precondition its battery en route to a charger.

Porsche engineer Marcus Junige said that “The vehicle must deliver full power under all conditions, as soon as the driver demands it,” adding that “No matter how the Cayenne was previously driven, it must always be conditioned for fast charging.”

We already know that Porsche wants the Cayenne EV to be among the fastest-charging electric vehicles in the world, although it won’t quite compete with the best that China has to offer, with some of its EVs that can charge at one megawatt or more. The Cayenne EV is expected to have a peak charging power rating of 400 kW and a very consistent charging curve that will allow it to go from 10% to 80% in a very impressive 16 minutes.

Wireless charging at up to 11 kW will also be possible in the Cayenne EV, allowing the car to juice up directly into its battery without having to use its onboard AC charger. It will be an option, though, expected to cost $8,000 (which includes the charging pad itself and the necessary hardware on the car), but it will be a small price to pay for some to just park in the garage and instantly start to charge without having to mess around with cables and wall boxes.

The electron-sipping Cayenne could also be the first electric Porsche to get a simulated engine with fake gear shifts similar to what I experienced on the Mercedes-AMG C590 prototype. This is Porsche backtracking on earlier claims that features like this actually make EVs worse. Just like in the AMG, the simulation promises to be so good that you won’t be able to tell it’s not actually powered by combustion, but you’ll also be able to turn it off to enjoy the silent surge of power that EVs are great at delivering.

Unlike the Macan and the 718 sports car, which will only be available as pure EV after the current combustion models are phased out, Porsche wants to keep an ICE Cayenne in the lineup for the foreseeable future, so it should remain on sale into the 2030s.

It will be interesting to see how the launch of the electric model will affect sales of the ICE Cayenne, which is available with a wide range of mostly electrified powertrains now. Seeing if the more extensive use of AI and simulations in development and testing could backfire somehow is also something to watch out for with the electric model.