A Porsche Cayenne that accelerates to 100kph in the same time as a brand-new 911 Turbo S—that’s 2.5sec, stat fans—and weighs 2,700kg? Sounds fairly unbelievable. Until you find out that the new Cayenne Turbo Electric has 1,140hp and 1,498Nm of torque; absolutely ridiculous numbers for a family carrier.
But that’s the way with electric stuff; big at Top Trumps, not necessarily heavy on the emotion. It might be vanishingly unlikely that anyone actually needs a Cayenne capable of this sort of stuff, but hey, more is…more.
And anyway, the headline-grabbing power and torque are also a slight misdirection. From the pedal, the Cayenne—non-turbo—Turbo has 833.4hp. Hit the push-to-pass on the wheel and you get an extra 173hp—engage launch control and you’re looking at the full whack. Because 845hp is basically street tune. Y’know, for shopping and stuff.
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And no, even sporting twin-valve dampers with dual-chamber air springs as standard, or optional Porsche Active Ride (which has a little pump for each damper that can compensate for pitch, yaw, and roll), we’re not expecting it to keep up with the aforementioned 911 Turbo S on the twisty bits. But those 911 owners might find it an uncomfortably close run thing.
What’s even more interesting is the package and the range. There’s a ‘basic’ Cayenne Electric with more like 400hp, sensibly arriving in a relatively economical £83,000 (around P6.397 million) package. There is probably a mid-ranger—not available at launch—and then the £131,000 (around P10.1 million) Turbo. The basic car has flavors of a Volkswagen product about it—blame that full-width lightbar and horizontal graphic on the rear. The Turbo has more stance and attitude—unsurprisingly. Up front, there are cleaned-up LED headlights in a singular unit, a restrained face that’s more Macan-like, and sculpted side skirts. One of those ‘it’ll grow on you’ moments. Probably.
But there’s a lot going on, even when you think things look less cluttered. The slats on the bottom section of the front bumper open and close for both cooling and aero purposes. The top of the rear hatch has a small, electric extendable spoiler, and there are extendable blades in the rear quarter panels that push outwards at speed, boiling off the turbulent air towards the rear wheels and around the bumper, increasing range. Just don’t think about the repair costs if you nerf it in a car park.
The guts of the thing are similarly impressive: 113kW of battery, heated and cooled from two sides (previously it was only one), with even the cooling gradient managed from the inside edge (where it’s warmer) to the outside. Some 641km of WLTP range for the Turbo comes with 400kW DC charging—meaning 300km in 10min and 10-80% in 16min.
Let’s not get too worried about finding a 400kW public charger and just glory in the fact that anything you can throw at the Cayenne will bathe in 800-volt architecture acceptance. There’s also wireless induction charging available—although that’s an option that has to be applied at build. And no, it won’t cook your cat if it sits between the pad and the car (we asked); it all just switches off until the wandering kitty scooches away.
Inside, there’s a curved driver’s display and a curved ‘flow screen’ that melts into the lower portion of the center of the dash. Widgets on the curved bit do all the car stuff: The main screen (with possible optional passenger screen), the multimedia, and flash graphics. And it is good. Useable, sharp, crisp, and intuitive. There’s even a rest for the heel of your hand called a ‘Ferry Pad’ that means you can accurately finger the right thing on the move—not always a given for a touchscreen when on an even mildly bumpy road.
There’s an AI assistant, massive head-up display which projects instructions onto the road ahead, Porsche Electric Sound (various levels of V8 rumble), a panoramic glass roof with various photochromic patterns, a communication light that welcomes you into the car and projects charging status, panel heating that cooks the armrest and door panels (because forearms need love too), various ‘mood modes’ which alter the seating position, air-con, lighting and all the rest. It’s a pretty comprehensive set of gadgets and fun stuff.
After that, there’s more space generally, electric heated and cooled rear seats, a big frunk and an enormous boot at 781 liters. And even if we know that there’ll likely be a sweetspot ‘S’ or ‘GTS’ in the range eventually, the intrigue of a Cayenne with more than 1,100hp lives rent-free in our heads. As does the ‘off-road package,’ which allows for 3,500kg of towing ability. There’s been a lot of thought thrown into this new electric Cayenne, and it shows.
It’s worth noting here that, according to some sources, Porsche has gone off the idea of electric. That’s not true. What’s actually happened is that in the face of changing regulations, Porsche has extended the lifecycle of the combustion and hybrid models to cover the shortfall. So the new Cayenne will still be available with a twin-turbo V6 petrol, a V8 petrol in the S, and an E-Hybrid.
Porsche is also letting combustion run in new versions of the Cayman and Boxster, and the next-gen SUV set to live above the Cayenne is launching as a petrol and e-hybrid initially—instead of a full EV—as well. So Porsche is going back to a more mixed strategy rather than abandoning EV in any significant way. It’s all change, but not. So we’ll wait and see if the new Cayenne lives up to the hype.
SPECS: 2026 Porsche Cayenne Electric Turbo
Price: £130,900 (around P10.095 million)
Layout: Dual-motor, all-wheel-drive
Power: 1,140hp
Torque: 1498Nm
Range: 641km
Performance: 0-100kph in 2.5sec
Powertrain: 113kWh
Weight: Around 2,600kg
Tow: 3,500kg (with off-road pack)
More photos of the 2026 Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric:
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
