2026 Porsche Cayenne Electric sets British hill climb record
However, almost simultaneously, our spy photographers also captured the new SUV – the first battery-powered Cayenne, and the second electric Porsche SUV following the Macan Electric – almost completely undisguised both inside and out.
The new large electric SUV was spied undergoing final development testing near the performance car brand's Weissach R&D base in Germany.
As you can see from these spy pics, the pre-production prototype wears camouflage only around its lighting, plus a stickered-on grille and what appear to be decals showing dual daytime running lights.
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Compared to the existing, third-generation large luxury SUV, the Cayenne EV will therefore feature narrower headlights flanking a narrow grille, a closed-off lower intake, and a slim rear light bar that wraps around the rear three-quarter panel.
Inside the fourth-generation Cayenne, there's a full-width digital screen that all but unites a driver's instrument cluster, central infotainment screen and a passenger-side multimedia display.
Overall, the exterior design of Porsche's new electric SUV, which will be followed by a larger dedicated-electric flagship SUV later this decade, makes it unmistakably a Cayenne.
However, it's unclear whether the EV will be offered in both wagon and 'Coupe' form like its combustion-powered sister model.
The combustion Cayenne will continue to be available with V6, V8 and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrains, just as Porsche is developing a replacement for the petrol-powered Macan to be sold alongside the new electric Macan.
Porsche released no technical details about the Cayenne EV, other than promising it will be able to tow up to 3500kg and feature a new Active Ride system, but it's expected to make its world debut by the end of this year before its global release some time in 2026 – before the electric Porsche 718 Boxster and Cayman, development of which appears to have been pushed back.
For the record, the 'near-production prototype' that made its public debut in England, part of a film production featuring Richard Hammond of Top Gear fame, set a new record in the hands of TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team development driver Gabriela Jílková.
Mr Hammond and Ms Jílková mingled with the crowd at the Shelsley Walsh hill climb – one of the world's oldest motorsport events, having been running since 1905 – before she drove the camouflaged Cayenne Electric up the asphalt track, which is only three and a half metres wide in places, has a steep gradient of up to 16.7 per cent, and is 1000 yards (914 metres) in length.
Ms Jílková beat the previous SUV record by more than four seconds in her first attempt.
'The course is challenging and does not forgive mistakes,' she said afterwards. 'There are no run-off zones and little room for correction. But the active suspension gives the new Cayenne enormous stability and precision. I felt completely confident at all times.'
Apart from setting a new SUV record at Shelsley Walsh, the Cayenne Electric also crossed the first measuring point of the course (at 60 feet or 18.3 metres) in just 1.94 seconds – matching single-seat race cars on slick tyres – shod with conventional summer tyres.
According to the automaker, the new Porsche Active Ride chassis system keeps the body of the Cayenne Electric 'level at all times, even during dynamic braking, steering and acceleration processes, and ensures a perfect connection to the road through a balanced distribution of wheel loads'.
'Porsche Active Ride significantly expands the range between driving dynamics and ride comfort in the new Cayenne,' said the vice president of the Cayenne Product Line, Michael Schätzle.
'Our customers have always appreciated the high utility value of the Cayenne. That's why we didn't want to make any compromises in the development of the all-electric model.
'Our customers will also have powerful and efficient combustion engine and hybrid models at their disposal well into the next decade, and we are continuing to develop the current model generation at great expense.
'However, we can only achieve the level of performance publicly demonstrated for the first time in England through the potential of electrification. The Cayenne Electric will set new standards – without compromising on everyday usability and practicality.'
Mr Schätzle added that final tuning of the Cayenne Electric is still in progress, but assures us that 'the drive power and equipment of the record-breaking car were already at production level'.
For his part, after using the camouflaged Cayenne Electric to tow a classic car more than 100 years old and weighing more than two tonnes from his workshop in Hereford to his garage as part of a film shoot, Mr Hammond said: 'We were trailing significant weight behind us, but you wouldn't know it – the Cayenne handled it effortlessly.'
No firm technical detail are available for the Cayenne EV, but it's expected to match the performance of its V8-powered siblings by offering between 373kW (500hp) and 600kW.
That's because it will be based on an updated version of the same 800V Premium Platform Electric architecture as the Macan Electric, which offers up to 470kW in dual-motor Turbo form, and more than 500km of range in entry-level form.
The first Cayenne EV will be produced alongside the existing Cayenne at Porsche's manufacturing facility in Bratislava, Slovakia.
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