Porsche's electric Cayenne can be charged without a cable
Porsche's largest SUV, the Cayenne, has finally turned electric, and it's got a few tricks up its sleeve.
Perhaps most importantly, it's wickedly quick. The fastest variant, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric, has up to 850kW (that's 1,156 horsepower) of power, allowing it to go from 0-100 km\/h in 2.5 seconds, and from 0-200 km/h in 7.4 seconds, with a max speed of 260 km/h. Porsche says it's the most powerful production Porsche of all time (so, not just the most powerful Cayenne or SUV; the most powerful Porsche of any kind, ever).
The entry level Cayenne is a bit tamer with 300 kW of power and a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 4.8 seconds, with a top speed of 230 km/h.
The Cayenne also has what Porsche calls "Formula E levels of recuperation," meaning the SUV is able to handle about 97 percent of all braking operations purely with its electric motors. Of course, for the Turbo variant you'll still probably want the (optional) Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake.
Other details include optional rear axle steering, adaptive air suspension which is standard on both the regular Cayenne and the Turbo variant, and the Porsche Active Ride active suspension which comes as an option and should "almost completely" compensate for the car's body movement.
A detail we like the most, though, is the (optional) inductive charging, which allows you to charge the Cayenne by merely park above a charging floor plate. The charging speed isn't the best – 11 kW – but it's way more practical than having to plug the car in after you park.
You shouldn't be worrying about charging too much with this one, as it comes with a hefty 113 kWh battery with super speedy charging (up to 400 kW DC charging), which should be good for up to 642 kilometers of WLTP range on the Cayenne Electric, and 623 kilometers of range on the Cayenne Turbo Electric.
Despite its power, the Cayenne Electric isn't the most aggressive-looking SUV, or even the most aggressive-looking Cayenne we've seen. European manufacturers like to make their electric cars more softer-looking, and Cayenne Electric looks like a slightly more futuristic, but also family-friendly variant of the regular Cayenne. And a true family hauler it is, with 4,985 millimeters in length, and 781 l in cargo space (up to 1,588 liters with seats folded), with an additional 90 liters in the frunk, which Porsche thankfully included on this one.
Inside, it's screens on top of screens, as is customary for modern Porsches. You get a 14.25-inch instrument cluster, and If you tick the option box for the 14.9-inch passenger display, you'll get the largest display area ever found in a Porsche. One new feature is called Mood Modes, which allows you to just pick the setting you want and the seating position, lighting, sound profile, display appearance, and even air conditioning all change to fit that mood.
All the electric Cayenne models are available to order now. In the U.S., the Cayenne Electric starts at $111,350, while the Cayenne Turbo Electric starts at $165,350.
Topics Electric Vehicles Cars
Stan is a Senior Editor at Mashable, where he has worked since 2007. He's got more battery-powered gadgets and band t-shirts than you. He writes about the next groundbreaking thing. Typically, this is a phone, a coin, or a car. His ultimate goal is to know something about everything.
