I Drive The New Porsche Cayenne Electric For The First Time – This Thing Rocks!

TL;DR

The Porsche Cayenne Electric impresses with unmatched driving dynamics, 400kW charging, and up to 1,200hp in the Turbo, though interior plastics disappoint at its price.

Key Points

• 1.Three variants start at $110,000 for the base and $160,000 for the Turbo. The base delivers 402hp with a 4.8-second 0-60, while the Turbo offers 630kW system power with an overboost peak of 1,200hp and a 162mph top speed.
• 2.The Turbo's rear motor uses oil-submersion cooling for thermal endurance on track. The S variant shares this same rear motor (tuned down), while the base model uses a different cooling solution that may overheat under repeated track use.
• 3.Charging performance is class-leading at 400kW sustained up to over 60% state of charge. A real-world session showed 10–83% in 16 minutes, matching or beating the spec sheet, enabled by rigid high-voltage rods instead of cables for precision current delivery.
• 4.Active Ride suspension eliminates pitch and body roll, making sport mode feel like comfort in lesser cars. The reviewer called it 'magical in the curves,' noting the 114kWh LG NMC pouch-cell battery supports six modules with dual-plate cooling for longevity.
• 5.The driving experience is what separates this Cayenne from Chinese EVs with similar specs on paper. Cars like the Zeekr 7X share SUV size, air suspension, and fast acceleration but lack the dynamic feel, confidence, and precision of the Porsche.
• 6.The cockpit and steering wheel are rated as best-in-class by the reviewer. Tactile switchgear, physical temperature and volume buttons, haptic climate shortcuts, Sport Chrono push-to-pass, and a curved OLED-style infotainment screen make it a standout interior experience.
• 7.Hard plastics in the rear cabin and cheap Bose speaker grills disappoint at this price point. The reviewer recommends speccing the Burmester audio system purely to upgrade the speaker grills, and notes the interior quality lags behind what $110,000+ should deliver.
• 8.Off-road capability proved impressive with dual-chamber air suspension and immediate traction control response. In off-road mode the car raises ride height, descends steep muddy hills via downhill descent control, and the reviewer likened its ease to just pointing and letting electronics handle the rest.
• 9.The Cayenne Electric earns the title of best driving SUV the reviewer has ever driven, but raises the question of diminishing returns. Its unique engineering — rods instead of cables, oil-cooled motors, Active Ride suspension — justifies its premium, but the interior quality gap remains its biggest weakness.