- Porsche is stuffing the first-ever electric Cayenne with the latest and greatest in battery and charging technology.
- As a result, the upcoming battery-powered SUV will be one of the fastest-charging EVs in the world.
- Thanks to a battery capacity of over 100 kilowatt-hours, the driving range will be more than adequate, too.
Porsche is hard at work putting the finishing touches on the first-ever electric Cayenne. It’s a big deal for the German brand, as the big SUV is one of its best-selling vehicles, so it has to be as close to perfect as possible.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the electric Porsche Cayenne, but now that the first prototype test drives are done and dusted, we have a better idea of what the flagship electric SUV will be capable of.
Photo by: Porsche
According to Autocar’s Greg Kable, who drove an unfinished prototype of the battery-powered Cayenne in Spain, Porsche is giving this thing everything it’s got. Based on the same 800–volt Premium Platform Electric architecture that underpins the Porsche Macan electric and the Audi Q6 E-Tron, the upcoming zero-emissions Cayenne will be powered by a 108-kilowatt-hour (usable) battery pack with LG-supplied pouch cells.
Depending on the powertrain configuration, the driving range is expected to be over 373 miles (600 kilometers) on the WLTP test cycle, while the maximum charging power will peak at an impressive 400 kilowatts. As a result, a 10% to 80% recharge will take just 16 minutes under optimal conditions, provided you find a powerful enough DC fast charger.
By comparison, the Lucid Air Grand Touring, which is one of the fastest-charging EVs on the market today thanks to its 900V+ battery pack, tops out at 300 kW. Meanwhile, the Lucid Gravity SUV matches the Cayenne’s 400 kW maximum power input, but the American-made EV needs a 1,000V charger to achieve its peak.
Two charging ports come as standard on the Cayenne EV, just like on the Taycan, only this time they’re at the rear of the car instead of the front. This should make charging easier at stations with short cables because the driver can plug in on either side of the car without having to double park. (Only one is a DC fast-charging port, however.)
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Three versions are in the works, all with dual permanent magnet motors–one at the front and one at the rear–and a two-speed gearbox at the rear. The front motor is made by Bosch, while the rear unit was developed and is produced in-house by Porsche. In other words, the electric Cayenne will be all-wheel drive, no matter the version.
The base model is claimed to deliver a combined 400 horsepower, followed by the Cayenne S with 600 hp and the Cayenne Turbo with 805 hp. Size-wise, the battery-powered SUV is 196 inches long (4,979 millimeters), which is 1.9 inches (49 mm) longer than the gas-powered Cayenne. Meanwhile, the EV’s wheelbase is 118.9 in (3,020 mm), 1.3 in (35 mm) longer than the combustion model.
Gallery: Porsche Cayenne Electric
Air suspension and twin-valve dampers are part of the package, and the car will automatically lower its ride height by 10 mm above 44 miles per hour (20 mph in Sport Plus Mode) and by 30 mm above 84 mph. There’s also a dedicated Off-Road mode with multiple sub-modes. In its extended position, the air suspension offers a total of 9.6 in (245 mm) of ground clearance.
Despite its roughly 6,000-pound curb weight, the most powerful Cayenne—the Turbo—will accelerate from zero to 60 mph in less than three seconds and reach a top speed of over 155 mph.
Unlike the electric Macan, which is slowly replacing its gas-powered sibling, the electric Cayenne will be sold alongside the combustion model for years to come. Deliveries of the Cayenne EV are expected to begin next year, with the gas model slated to get another facelift around the same time.