The Porsche Cayenne Electric Turbo is Mind Blowing.

0:00 So, Marquez actually had to give his cousin's house fly a bath,

0:04 which I don't know what that's about.

0:06 But, while he's doing that, I thought it'd be

0:08 good to take another look at the Porsche Cayenne electric.

0:13 It's right over there.

0:14 Um last year we got to take a look at this car.

0:15 It was a bit of a static walk-around situation.

0:18 Didn't get to drive it,

0:19 but everything that they were saying this car had on paper,

0:22 1,100 horsepower for the turbo, uh crazy active ride suspension.

0:30 For the turbo.

0:31 Um pretty decent range and efficiency.

0:33 Active aero back flaps.

0:35 All that sounded pretty good.

0:36 And so, today we're here in rainy Barcelona,

0:39 Spain to find out if it uh does that and how well.

0:42 So, just a quick recap of everything we already

0:45 talked about in that first video we shot last year.

0:47 And if you haven't seen that, I'll put

0:48 that right here for you to take a look at.

0:51 But, this is basically the exact same car we

0:53 had out in California last year to check out.

0:55 But, brand new design,

0:57 obviously very similar to the Taycan as far as the headlights go.

1:01 And we have these active aero flaps down here that are very

1:04 similar to what you have in the new 911s with the hybrid system.

1:07 We have some thick meaty tires.

1:09 These are Pirelli P Zero Rs wrapped around some 10-piston carbon ceramic brakes.

1:14 Absolutely massive braking system.

1:17 You definitely don't want to have to pay for a new set of those out of warranty.

1:20 We have our electric badge on the side because this is an EV, obviously.

1:24 We have one of our two charging ports on the side.

1:27 Don't worry, I did hit open, but this is a uh power close charging door.

1:32 And then taking a look at the back,

1:34 this is probably the most controversial part of this design.

1:37 We have the kind of familiar Taycan unibeam in the back.

1:41 And then the turbo badge because this is the turbo.

1:44 Our diffuser.

1:45 And then the soon-to-be iconic back flaps,

1:49 which come in and out based on how you're

1:51 driving and what it needs to do for aerodynamic sake.

1:54 Quite frankly, I'm not like crazy about the design of the new Cayenne electric.

2:00 I think it might grow on me over time.

2:01 And I'm sure as I see more of these out on the road,

2:03 I'll kind of just get used to it,

2:05 but I honestly feel like the older Cayennes with the V8s,

2:11 that's kind of like where Cayenne peaked

2:13 as far as design in my personal opinion.

2:15 But, we should take a look inside because

2:19 there's even more stuff going on here as well.

2:23 Let me close that door.

2:25 I'm like leaning to the side right now,

2:26 so that required a ton of effort, physically speaking.

2:33 Sorry, I just got to move back a little bit.

2:35 Go back and watch our video for a more in-depth look at the interior,

2:39 but I think this is a pretty nice cabin to be in.

2:42 Porsche has definitely fulfilled their obligation to making sure

2:45 every touch point feels above-average premium from everything down

2:49 to the quality of these very expensive curved displays

2:52 to the tactility of the buttons that make nice clicky clicky sounds.

2:56 Oh, and the Burmester speakers absolutely slap.

2:59 They are great.

3:00 All the intense display curvature might take

3:02 a minute to get used to, but in essence, this is still very much a Cayenne.

3:06 And that, my friends, is a good thing.

3:09 The only thing that the Cayenne EV continues

3:10 to lack is packaging that rivals Lucid and even Rivian.

3:14 Backseat roominess is the strongest example of that.

3:17 It's no more spacious than the standard Cayennes from the past,

3:20 which I guess means that the product isn't getting worse in that way,

3:23 but it also isn't exploiting the noted advantages

3:26 of electric platforms the way that other brands have.

3:28 Once Porsche can figure that out, they'll be cooking, for sure.

3:32 But, that's basically a quick recap

3:35 of front back seat situation on Cayenne electric.

3:41 Sorry.

3:43 That was kind of hard to close.

3:44 Let's get on the road and drive this thing, shall we?

3:46 It is raining, so I won't be able to fully

3:48 exploit the performance capabilities of this 1,000 horsepower Porsche SUV.

3:55 But, I'll I'll do my best uh safely, of course.

3:58 But, we're going to basically do this in two parts.

4:00 We're firstly going to drive this, the top dog turbo electric.

4:04 And then we're going to hop in the standard Cayenne EV.

4:07 That's going to be the one that most people are

4:09 going to buy because that isn't going to be like $200,000.

4:12 So, it would be easy to assume that this is just Taycan Pro Max,

4:16 but that actually couldn't be any further from the truth.

4:19 This platform is almost completely new to the Porsche lineup

4:22 using two new PSM motors for the front and rear axle.

4:25 And the turbo model's rear motor is

4:27 using a Formula E derived oil cooling system.

4:30 You also now have six interchangeable battery

4:32 modules with predictive thermal management and double-sided cooling.

4:35 Real geeky stuff.

4:37 If you can find a charger capable of doing it,

4:39 the Cayenne will charge it up to 400 kW using

4:42 the NACS port that'll be standard on the US Cayenne models.

4:45 And Porsche claims you should be able to get

4:47 over 300 mi of range on a full charge,

4:49 but probably not when you're doing performance testing, which I did a bit of.

4:55 All right, so first things first,

4:56 we've got over 1,100 horsepower in this SUV, which is insane.

5:00 But, just like the RS e-tron GT performance

5:05 that we reviewed a couple of weeks ago, that's really only when you're in max

5:09 boost performance launch attack mode, basically.

5:14 Most of the time you're going to be dealing

5:15 with 800-plus horsepower when you're in the sport mode.

5:19 And it is very calm.

5:21 It is very composed.

5:23 It definitely gets going when you put your foot down,

5:25 but it's not an overwhelming amount of power.

5:28 I'd say they've definitely tuned this car to feel very usable

5:31 and not uber aggressive in the way it puts power down.

5:36 But, one of the benefits of going

5:37 with the turbo version in particular that you won't be

5:40 able to get on any other version

5:42 of the Cayenne electric is the Porsche active ride system,

5:45 also on the RS e-tron GT performance we reviewed a couple of weeks ago.

5:50 Uh this is a system that they

5:51 debuted on the Taycan and it's their electro-hydraulic,

5:55 basically no need for an anti-roll bar system.

5:58 As opposed to using anti-roll bars and sway bars

6:00 and stuff like that, you just have these electro-hydraulic

6:03 pumps powered by an electric motor and a battery

6:06 uh that controls each corner of the car individually.

6:10 And a good example to explain how good the body

6:12 control is with this system is uh demonstrating pitch and dive.

6:16 So, when you brake, usually the nose is going to dive like that.

6:21 And then when you accelerate hard, usually the nose is going to go upwards

6:25 like in a G Wagon or something like that.

6:28 But, when you floor it, when you're braking very aggressively in this car,

6:32 the body stays completely level.

6:34 And that's because you have these motors adjusting like a billion times

6:38 per second to make sure the car stays as flat as possible.

6:41 That also applies to potholes and bumps.

6:45 When going over a pothole or a bump,

6:46 the car adjusts one corner of the suspension to make

6:49 sure that uh you pretty much don't feel it at all.

6:52 Honestly, I do think it sucks that you can't

6:54 get this system on non-turbo versions of the Cayenne

6:58 EV because there's so many ways in which

7:00 the suspension system is beneficial in non-performance-oriented applications.

7:05 I'd say that's where it's mostly beneficial is

7:08 for just regular driving and achieving a level

7:10 of road comfort that is just nothing we've

7:13 ever seen on any other version of Porsche's SUVs.

7:16 And so, what I'm hoping is that in future generations,

7:19 this system becomes more widely available across the Cayenne electric lineup.

7:23 As far as general comfort goes,

7:24 one of the biggest things I'm realizing is that the road noise is not great.

7:28 It's not a super quiet drive.

7:31 And I'm sure a huge chunk of that has to do with the tires.

7:33 I'm pretty sure this is rocking Pirelli P Zero Rs,

7:37 so a very performance-oriented compound,

7:41 which is not going to be good for for comfort driving necessarily.

7:44 So, if you get the turbo and you don't care about,

7:46 I don't know, tracking or getting the best zero to 60 possible,

7:50 I would opt for a tire that is a little bit more road and comfort-oriented.

7:56 The P Zero Rs are not it, in my opinion.

7:58 Steering feel is great, like I said.

8:01 And because of the active ride system just like constantly leveling the car out,

8:06 it never really feels sketch going up a twisty mountain road.

8:11 The wetness and the fog certainly adds

8:14 an element of of sketchiness to the experience,

8:16 but aside from that, this car handles great.

8:20 Especially given how big and heavy it is.

8:22 So, these are some pretty tight technical

8:24 roads up here in the Barcelona mountain canyons.

8:30 Uh this is a good place to find out how capable,

8:34 how fun, how technically proficient this new Cayenne electric is.

8:40 And I've been driving it for a good amount of time now.

8:44 I'm pretty impressed.

8:45 Unfortunately, I'm starting the day on wet, foggy mountain roads,

8:48 which isn't exactly the right conditions

8:50 to attempt to exploit 1,100 peak horsepower,

8:53 making this the most powerful SUV to ever exist, by the way.

8:57 But, once I found some dry tarmac,

8:58 I got to find out what 1,100 horsepower feels like in a nearly 6,000-lb SUV.

9:04 The Cayenne can do zero to 60 in 2.3 seconds and a quarter mile under 10.

9:09 No big deal.

9:10 But, that's genuinely the least surprising thing about the Cayenne EV.

9:14 What genuinely had me lost for words is how this car handled once the P

9:18 Zeros finally warmed up and I could

9:20 confidently throw it around some tight Spanish twisties.

9:22 This is where the active ride system has come to life more

9:24 so than any of the Panameras or Taycans I've tested using this system.

9:29 It turns out the bigger and heavier the car is,

9:31 the more it has to gain from an independent corner control system.

9:34 Body roll is nonexistent.

9:36 The car feels so composed and controllable, it's it's kind of ridiculous.

9:41 This is the best handling SUV I've ever driven, full stop.

9:44 I mean, Ferrari's Purosangue is pretty close,

9:46 but driving that car in technical scenarios involves managing your gearing,

9:50 making sure you're in the right power

9:51 band to maximize corner exit, blah blah blah.

9:53 And Lord knows I love a Ferrari V12, but that car just involves so much more

9:57 mental input just to end up being slower anyway.

10:01 Cayenne EV is just effortlessly talented in a way

10:04 that no SUV I've ever driven is.

10:06 Another thing that they're doing with this car is emulating V8 sounds.

10:11 Uh they sampled noises from the old or I guess

10:14 technically current 4-liter turbo V8 powered Cayennes and uh tried

10:20 to come up with a new sound that kind of mixes

10:23 a combination of futuristic electric

10:25 acceleration noise with traditional gas-powered rumble.

10:29 And uh here's how it sounds.

10:31 So, it's getting quieter and quieter and quieter and quieter and quieter.

10:35 Woah!

10:40 I'm not crazy about it.

10:42 Um but I I I'm not bothered by it either.

10:45 I think the sound is it's whatever.

10:52 [laughter] But, when you do briefly get to uh send it on a straightaway,

10:56 man, you realize there's so much bandwidth.

10:58 I wasn't even foot to the floor and yeah, it's throwing you back in your seat.

11:02 Overall, this Turbo is really impressive.

11:06 It's really really fast.

11:08 Uh the suspension system is amazing.

11:11 Active Ride continues to maintain its goat status.

11:16 Um it's uber comfortable.

11:17 Um the road noise is a bit louder than I'd like,

11:21 but I think a lot of that comes down to these tires

11:23 that we've got on the car, the P Zero Rs.

11:26 Steering overall dynamics, the car is definitely playful,

11:29 especially in the wet, but still maintaining a good amount of confidence.

11:35 My thing is just that I think this Turbo model is just too much.

11:39 Honestly, it's just too much power.

11:41 I I don't feel like you'd really make a lot of use out of this 1,000 horsepower

11:47 or maybe even more power from an alleged

11:50 Turbo GT that might be coming at some point.

11:54 So, what I want to do now is hop into the standard Cayenne and find

11:58 out if that's the one that kind of makes more sense for the average person.

12:02 Is that the one that you should really spend your hard-earned dollars on?

12:07 I have a feeling I know the answer to that question.

12:10 All right, so this is what it's like

12:12 to not drive an 1,100 horsepower electric Cayenne.

12:15 This is the base model Cayenne, not the S,

12:19 not the Turbo, just the regular schmegular Cayenne.

12:23 Uh this one is going to be

12:24 significantly cheaper than the Turbo version, obviously.

12:30 And generally speaking, creature comfort,

12:32 build quality-wise, it feels exactly the same.

12:35 But, you might be able to tell on camera a huge

12:38 differentiator from a driving perspective

12:40 that differentiates this from the Turbo.

12:42 It's the Active Ride.

12:43 We don't have Active Ride.

12:44 You cannot get it on a regular Cayenne EV.

12:48 You can only get it currently on the S and the Turbo

12:50 and what I'm sure will be the Turbo GT that's coming later.

12:53 Which, honestly, it kind of sucks.

12:55 Um I do think that there would be a market out

12:59 there for people who don't necessarily care about having the crazy performance,

13:02 but would love to have the best possible ride quality.

13:06 Not having Active Ride here,

13:07 even on some pretty buttery smooth roads out here in Spain,

13:11 you can feel the difference.

13:12 It is literally night and day, even on like pretty good pavement.

13:17 Um the car's just like a lot more unsettled.

13:20 The body control isn't nearly as good.

13:22 Overall responsiveness just isn't as good.

13:25 As far as chassis control, I miss it already.

13:28 And while we're here,

13:29 we might as well do a quick 0 to 60 just to see what it'll do.

13:34 So, we got 2.32 seconds in the Turbo.

13:37 Let's see what we do in this car, if we can even do launch control.

13:42 Oh, yeah, you can.

13:44 Yeah.

13:47 [laughter] Wow, that's cute.

13:49 4.72 seconds.

13:52 So, we could probably maybe get a slightly quicker time,

13:54 but it's just slow enough to where the car didn't even bog at all.

14:00 It pretty much hooked up right away because it doesn't have

14:03 that much power to the point where it's overpowering the tires.

14:06 But, 4.72, that's still great.

14:09 And for someone who's just looking to get something that's decently quick,

14:12 able to keep up with modern traffic, this is obviously more than enough.

14:17 It's plenty.

14:18 Absolutely plenty.

14:19 Now, this is a pretty decently optioned Cayenne EV.

14:23 It's about 120 grand, which is no small sum, for sure.

14:27 But, the fact that you can spend half

14:29 of basically the cost of the Cayenne EV Turbo

14:33 and more or less have the same experience outside

14:35 of the amazing suspension and the performance, that's good.

14:40 I think that's that's great.

14:41 Obviously, buying a gas or hybrid base model Cayenne would be cheaper.

14:45 That'd be a considerably better value proposition.

14:49 But, I like this car.

14:52 I think it's lovely to drive outside of it not having Active Ride.

14:56 The standard suspension here is perfectly fine.

14:59 But, once you drive Active Ride

15:01 and get into something without it, it's immediate.

15:03 But, if you've never experienced that system,

15:06 I think you can get down with this, for sure.

15:08 I wouldn't say that this base Cayenne offers all

15:10 of the same creature comforts that a Model X would,

15:13 per se, even though that car is technically extinct now.

15:16 Um but, if you don't need the fancy options and the crazy leather and the crazy

15:22 expensive paint and you could be down

15:24 with just a more bare-bones spec Cayenne EV, this makes a lot of sense.

15:30 And it's going to make a lot more sense when these things

15:33 depreciate by like 30 or 40% in the next couple of years.

15:38 Buying one of these for like 70 grand, this is a lot of car for the money.

15:43 Even though 70 grand is a lot of money,

15:45 this is that would be a lot of car for the money.

15:47 Whereas, I feel the Turbo model is definitely access maxing.

15:52 This is, I think, just right.

15:55 Okay, so that is the Cayenne electric.

15:58 We have the Turbo and the regular version.

16:00 There's going to be an S model coming later down

16:02 the line and probably a Turbo GT version as well.

16:05 This one right here, almost $230,000.

16:09 Very very very expensive.

16:12 But, I can also see where the money went, to be honest.

16:14 Um and if you want to wait, this will drop in value in the next year

16:19 or so and become maybe a more palatable value proposition.

16:23 But, as it stands, I think I can safely say this is

16:27 the best driving performance electric SUV you can buy right now.

16:30 The engineering This is an engineering circus.

16:33 Everything to the Active Ride system,

16:35 the rear drive unit that's Formula E derived

16:38 with an oil-cooled system and all that, it's it's quite good.

16:41 It's quite good.

16:43 Um and the regular one, if you don't need all that stuff,

16:45 is also a very lovely car to drive.

16:48 Best value?

16:49 Eh, questionable.

16:50 But, that's not really what Porsche's about, per se.

16:55 Um yeah, if you were on the fence and have

16:58 the cash to buy one, I say just do it.

17:03 Okay.

17:04 Talk to you guys in the next one.