2026
Porsche Cayenne Electric

The exterior design of the Cayenne Electric is a clear mashup of the Macan Electric and standard Cayenne, making it instantly recognizable as the EV version. It isn’t too far of a departure from the friendlier, rounded look and wide rear fenders of other Porsches.

Much of the exterior focus was on optimizing the Cayenne Electric’s aerodynamics for better performance and range, with a nearly flat underbody, a rear diffuser, and aerodynamically optimized wheels. An active aerodynamics system includes a roof spoiler that changes position based on the driving conditions, cooling flaps in the nose that can open and close as needed, and deployable “aero blades” that pop out from the rear to enhance airflow around the vehicle and thus improve range at higher speeds.

Matrix LED headlights in the front feature Porsche’s current daytime running light signature with four lit points arranged in a rectangle within each headlight. The Matrix lights block individual LEDs in the high beams rather than switching to dimmer low beams to avoid blinding oncoming vehicles, using technology that’s only now available in the U.S. A narrow lightbar across the rear has a cool 3D look and features “Porsche” in lit-up letters as well as various animated effects.

Side skirts and wheel arches are painted in contrasting colors: a dark metallic gray on the base model and a glossy black on the Turbo. An optional Off-Road Design package switches up the lower front fascia for one with a better approach angle for steeper ascents and descents.

The Cayenne Electric is slightly larger than the internal-combustion and plug-in hybrid Cayennes, with a 5-inch increase in wheelbase that adds legroom for rear passengers. Optional bells and whistles typical of modern luxury cars abound, including adjustable ambient lighting that reacts to changes in settings, an electronically dimming panoramic sunroof, and surface heating that warms other touchpoints in the car (including door panels and armrests) in addition to the steering wheel.

The dashboard is dominated by the Cayenne Electric’s Flow Display—a giant curved OLED screen that has a 14.25-inch digital driver’s information display. It can also extend across the dashboard with an optional 14.9-inch passenger display. That’s lots of functions moved onto a screen, but Porsche kept some analog controls for some of its climate control functions as well as a physical volume knob. To help navigate these controls and other functions, Porsche included an AI chatbot-style voice assistant, which it says can understand complex commands and regular speech without the driver having to recite specific keywords.

An optional 87-inch head-up display projects augmented reality-style graphics across the windshield, such as arrows pointing toward the next street you need to turn onto when you’re using the car’s navigation system. Porsche’s endless catalog of customizations is available on the Cayenne Electric as well, with 13 standard exterior colors, 12 different interior combinations, and nine wheel choices ranging from 20 to 22 inches in diameter—not to mention the expanded Paint to Sample exterior color choices and Sonderwunsch (literally translated: “special wish”) department that can customize every last detail you could possibly imagine.

Electronically adjustable rear seats come standard and can fold down to expand the cargo area from more than 19 cubic feet of space with the seats raised to just over 56 cubic feet with the seats folded down. And it has a 3.2-cubic-foot front trunk. Like the regular Cayennes, the Cayenne Electric is rated to tow 7,716 pounds, but those who want to tow longer distances should consider a non-EV Cayenne because towing tends to shorten an EV’s range significantly.

The base Cayenne Electric offers 402 hp for everyday driving, but it can reach 435 hp and 615 lb.-ft. of torque with launch control activated. That may be considerably less than the Turbo, but it should still be enough to push you back in your seat, with Porsche claiming a brisk 4.5-second 0-to-60-mph time.

The Cayenne Turbo Electric is the brand’s party piece, with Porsche boasting of a 2.4-second 0-to-60-mph time and 9.9-second quarter-mile time (per the company’s own tests)—both enabled by its peak launch-control output of 1,139 hp and 1,106 lb.-ft. of torque. For all other situations, the Turbo has 844 hp available, although using the push-to-pass button can increase that to 1,017 hp for 10 seconds. If you find a suitable track to test the Cayenne Turbo Electric’s limits, Porsche says it can hit a top speed of 162 mph.

The Turbo also adds a limited-slip rear differential with an upgraded torque-vectoring system and an oil-cooling system to regulate the rear-axle electric motor’s temperature, keeping it at an optimal level for better efficiency and performance.

Both versions have a 113-kilowatt-hour battery, although range estimates weren’t released at the time of publication. Helping prolong that range is a regenerative braking system, which Porsche claims can handle up to 97 percent of the vehicle’s braking, thus feeding that energy back into the battery. You can still upgrade to the optional carbon-ceramic brakes for the top-trim Cayenne Turbo Electric if you want, but given the added cost of replacement and their grabbier, more track-focused nature, these may not be worth the extra cost for most drivers.

All Cayenne Electric models run on an 800-volt electrical system that allows for a 400-kW maximum acceptance rate when hooked up to a DC fast charger. Porsche claims it can recharge from a 10 to 80 percent SOC in less than 16 minutes. The Cayenne has a 9.6-kW maximum acceptance rate for AC charging, which Porsche says can completely refill the battery from empty to a 100 percent SOC in 13 hours.

It features both a NACS DC fast charging port and a J1772 AC charging port for home use, with each one on different sides of the vehicle. A NACS-to-CCS plug adapter comes standard as well. We’re disappointed to see that both of these charge doors open electronically, however, because we don’t like the idea of being locked out of charging if there’s a problem with the door motor.

One of the most interesting options is the Porsche Wireless Charging system, which is a lot like a car-sized version of the inductive charging pads available for modern cell phones. It comes with a pad that you can park the Cayenne Electric over that charges the vehicle wirelessly at higher speeds than the AC charging port can: 11 kW, to be exact. It’s as simple to use as it gets, starting the charging process automatically as soon as the vehicle is parked over the pad.

Rear-axle steering is optional for both models, which decreases the Cayenne Electric’s turning radius at lower speeds and increases cornering capabilities on twisty roads. Another option is an upgraded active suspension system called Porsche Active Ride, which is designed to further limit body roll to improve handling.

Standard equipment includes adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic warning, lane keep assistance, and traffic sign recognition. The vehicle also includes an emergency stop function, which brings the vehicle safely to a stop if it detects that the driver is unresponsive. Lane centering assistance is available as part of the Drive Assist package.

A high-resolution 360-degree camera system with a rear cross-traffic view comes standard, along with an automated parking feature that identifies both standard and parallel parking spaces and takes over steering and braking to maneuver the Cayenne Electric into a parking spot.