The All-Electric Porsche Cayenne Is Here With Up To 1140bhp

It feels it’s been teased for about a millennium now, but the all-electric Porsche Cayenne is finally here. And it has a lot of power.

1140bhp in dual-motor range-topping Turbo guise, to be precise, plus 1106lb ft of torque, both accessed with the car in Launch Control mode. Thus configured, it’ll absolutely eff off from 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds, and top out at 162mph. In ‘regular’ drive modes, it’s still developing 845bhp, which honestly, seems like plenty.

In fact, the 436bhp and 616lb ft developed by the base model Cayenne – still a dual-motor – seems like plenty, especially when it’ll still hit 62mph in 4.8 seconds and max out at 143mph.

Accelerating isn’t the only thing it’ll do quickly, either: thanks to an 800V charging architecture, the 113kWh battery shared by both launch versions can go from 10 to 80 per cent in under 16 minutes, although good luck finding a 390kW charger in Britain that’ll actually do it that quickly. Range is quoted at 399 miles for the base car and 387 miles for the gutsier Turbo. Oh, and as we’ve already seen, you can also charge the new Cayenne wirelessly like it’s a giant phone.

Helping these impressive figures out is a drag coefficient of just 0.25, aided by active cooling flaps up front, an adaptive rear spoiler and, on the Turbo, those aeroblades protruding from either end of the bumper.

What, you might be asking, is going to keep this enormously powerful and (presumably) enormously heavy car in check? Much software, that’s what. All models get standard active air suspension, while the Turbo gets an optional torque-vectoring rear diff and Porsche’s almost spookily good Active Ride system, already found on the Panamera. Rear-axle steering is an option on both, too.

Oh, and here’s a fun fact: in everyday driving, Porsche says up to 97 per cent of braking duties can be handled by regen, levels that the company says is equivalent to one of its Formula E cars. The Turbo can be optioned with carbon ceramic stoppers, though, just in case you’re planning on doing lots of non-everyday driving.

We’ve already seen the new Cayenne’s cockpit in full, complete with the biggest usable area of screenage in Porsche history. The centrepiece is the Flow Display, a curving central infotainment screen, and it’s flanked by a 14.25-inch instrument cluster and, optionally, a 14.9-inch passenger screen. Remembering that it’s still Porsche and not Tesla, though, the company’s come up with a handrest designed to make screen operation easy even during ‘particularly dynamic driving’. Sounds like something we need to test, to be honest.

Also new for the interior are ‘Mood Modes’ that alter the lighting, climate, sound design, instrument display and even seating position to reflect different vibes, and new heated armrests and door panels in addition to the seats.

It’s all sounding mightily impressive, but Porsche knows that right now, it would be unwise for the Cayenne to go electric-only, which is why it plans to continue updating the existing ICE and hybrid model to keep it on sale well into the 2030s alongside the new EV. As for the EV, it’s on sale now, with pricing kicking off at £83,200 for the base car and £130,900 for the Turbo, and we’d expect further drivetrain choices to arrive before long.