Wow, What a price. What a brute! 2027 Porsche Cayenne Electric review

We've got the all-new Porsche electric Cayenne. Right awaits. Let's go. Ready, Zach? We're in sport mode. Oh yeah. It makes the noises too. Certainly does. That is quick. And this is the base model. Base model. And we're in our happy place, Andrea. And at Cayenne, we've owned three Cayennes. Currently have two. We love the product and now it's electrified. Maybe getting a little spendy for us. A little spendy for us, for sure. But it's a pretty special product, I gotta say. Should we get into the specs, Zach? Let's do it. All electric Cayenne models have 113 kilowatt-hour battery and are standard all-wheel drive. The base model has up to 435 horsepower and up to 616 pound-feet of torque. Zero to 100 kilometers per hour in 4.8 seconds. Zero to 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds. There's also the Cayenne S with 657 horsepower, 797 pound-feet of torque. Zero to 100k in 3.8 seconds. Zero to 60 miles an hour, 3.6. And then there's the big boy, the Turbo. It has up to 1,139 horsepower and 1,106 pound-feet of torque. Zero to 100 in 2.5 seconds. Zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.4 seconds. Now, we were supposed to be able to get that Turbo today. By the way, this is a one-day drive locally here in Vancouver. So thank you to Porsche Cars Canada for arranging that. We couldn't get our hands on the Turbo. We've got the base model, which is the one we wanted anyway, Andrew. You know why? Because this is probably the one people are going to buy. And the good thing is we can go through all the key standard features. The base trim comes with a 14.25-inch digital driver display, a 12.25-inch touchscreen, wireless, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A 10-speaker audio system, 8-way power heated front comfort seats, partial leather upholstery, driver seat memory, heated steering wheel, comfort access, an aluminum roof, electric rear seats, and a hands-free power liftgate. So we haven't had this for long. We went to LA for the walk-around event we did last year. We got to see this car for the very first time. Now we're getting to drive it just weeks after we had the Macan GTS. Yeah. And I just love the size of a Cayenne. I think so too. And compared to the gas model, it's grown. It's 2.2 inches longer. And the wheelbase has grown by over 5 inches. So you're getting more interior room. I can feel it in this compared to the gas model Cayenne. The other thing is if you get a gas model Cayenne, we'll call them ICE, the ICE Cayenne or the hybrid even, air suspension isn't standard unless you get like a Turbo. This comes standard with air suspension. Big heavy battery, over 100 kilowatt-hour battery. And it makes the car heavy. It's a big car. Air suspension helps mitigate that, gives you the handling. But on this application, I find it, first right away, as soon as we started driving, we're like, wow, this is smooth. Yeah, definitely tuned for comfort. You've got that typical EV feel, instant acceleration, smooth ride. Very comfortable daily driver, really. You get it on the highway. The power is terrific. Passing power is fantastic. And then, of course, the turning radius. For such a large vehicle with all of this space, you can turn this Cayenne on a dime. It also has, this one has the active rear steering, which is going to mitigate the overall mass of the vehicle. Yeah, but the thing with Porsche is you can pick what you want. So if you want a sportier one, you get the S. You want the sportiest one, you get the Turbo. There'll be a GTS as well. And then you get the different settings in the air suspension, PASM, dynamic chassis control. All of those things can be layered on to give you more of that traditional, really sporty feel. Yeah, you can really make it your own with Porsche. We all know when you go on the site, there's so many a la carte items, there's so many packages. You can get an off-road package, which increases your approach angle. 97% of the braking function is done with the electric motors. So the friction brakes are rarely used. Somebody who has owned three Cayennes, having to replace the brakes, they are expensive. So that is nice. I mean, that's your biggest consumable with a regular Cayenne are brakes and tires. I'll take that. It's tricky for luxury car brands and performance car brands to differentiate from what's available from other EVs because EVs are inherently quick. You can get some very, very fast ones. They have quiet and smooth interiors. So what does Porsche have at its disposal to pull from to make this feel dynamic? I would say it centers around the chassis and the steering. Yeah, for sure. The steering is so sharp. You go along a twisty road and it handles it beautifully. You know, although it is an EV and you've got the power, and it is comfortable, it's still more fun to drive, in my opinion, than other EVs that are on the road. Now there's different ride heights, five in total, and the turbo model has torque vectoring plus, plus a limited rear slip differential. So it looks like a bigger version than the Macan EV and the real tell are the pin lights at the front. It's funny because Subaru dialed some of those up for their latest EV. Yeah, Uncharted. It definitely has a look, and you know right away that it's a Porsche. Some people just think that the design of Porsche is a little uninspiring. I think their styling department knows what they're doing. And the biggest thing that I like about this, Andrea, are you going to guess what it is? I don't know, the back? Door handles. They didn't give me freaky deaky door handles. They just give you a regular door. I like that. And a regular, it's regular looking. And we noticed that in the Macan as well. So it can be done. We know that manufacturers can do it. I think that Porsche has stayed true to its roots with this electric vehicle. It looks like a Porsche. It has that cool, sporty look. The roofline kind of has a low roofline. And I like the lights. I like the light bar in the back. I like that it lights up. I think that they've done a great job. And I think that this color combo with the interior and the mystic green is really beautiful. Has a sense of elegance to it. So we had somebody from Porsche in the U.S. I'm not going to say who it is, but he said if you look at the front of this product and you just envision it with regular air openings, this might just be the look of the regular gas models that are still to come. I think there's going to be a sort of a merging. EVs and the regular gas models were all done on separate platforms and lines. And the car companies seem to be bringing everything together. So this might just be the next regular Cayenne. Yeah, I think it makes sense. It's nice when you drive an electric vehicle and you can't tell if it's a gas model or not. Obviously we're big fans of Porsche and I think that Porsche has done a lot right with this EV. And I always question all the different trims like the turbo, the S. When the base model has up to 616 pound feet of torque, how much more do you need for everyday driving? Yeah, this is a problem because in the gas world, you had to buy the turbo or the GTS or whatever to get those kinds of numbers. Now they give it to you right away. And I think that the issue is, is that if you buy the base model, how much are you layering on top of that for features that then brings you to the Cayenne S? So that's the question. But of course, then you could get a fully loaded base model. Well, I think the nice thing is if you just keep the base model and then load it up with all the stuff you want is all you really need. The electric Cayenne comes standard with LED headlamps, available matrix design, HD headlamps, black brake calipers, 20-inch aero wheels, available 21-inch and 22-inch wheels. Of course, you can add packages and a la carte items to make this Cayenne your own from gloss black to carbon fiber and plenty of different color options and wheel designs. We have the 21-inch RS Spyder wheels on our base test model. So if you've ever been in a Porsche SUV, you'll get in this and in very short order, it'll be familiar. Yeah. It's new, but it's familiar. Certainly they use a lot of the same kind of components and features and materials. I'm not, there's some things about this center console that I like and others that I don't. I don't find it as easy to access things as it used to be. The wireless charger's way down there. The cup holders are way down there. The mirror adjustment is, at least it's not on the screen. It's way up here, but this I like. What's this called, Andrea? The fairy pad. If you rub it, a fairy pops out. Zach likes fairies, for sure. No, it's after fairy Porsche. I know, but I thought it was more fun to say that you like fairies. Sure, listen, the thing is, fairy Porsche was the guy who designed the 911. So there you go. I agree, it's difficult to reach the USB-C ports down here. I plugged in my phone. I don't know, the cup holders are tucked away. Maybe some people will like that. They're very deep. And then you can close everything up that some may also enjoy, that they can tuck some things away. I think with anything in a new vehicle, when it's your daily driver, you get used to it. I have to say that the screen, although there are a lot of functions done in the screen, it is intuitive to use. And you can customize the widget. So if there's a certain app that you use most often, you can customize the screen to what you like and what you want on the screen. There's a volume roller. There's temperature knobs, which is nice to see. You know, you're heated and ventilated seats. There's a tap at the bottom of the screen. Easy enough to press. Yeah, so this pad here, which actually isn't officially called the fairy pad, internally, the engineers called it that, as an homage to the former chief engineer for the 911 and family member. And you know what? It's to rest your arm on. And this makes all the difference. And I'll be saying this about screens. If there's a screen up on the dashing, you've got to try in midair, touch things that are small. It doesn't work going over bumps. But if you can rest your hand on there, it makes the application of having most stuff done in the screen way easier. And the other thing is, Andrea, even the old Porsche Cayennes had the grab handles here. They've kind of kept it. A little bit. They've kept them. I mean, not as pronounced as what you see in older models. But you know what? It's just kind of evolved and more modern. The screen is a 12 and a quarter inch touch screen. And it's very close to the driver. So it's easy to access. The placement is quite good. You've got a 14 and a quarter inch digital driver display. And then there's an available 14.9 inch passenger screen. But I noticed that it feels like there's less piano black, doesn't it, in this model than other Porsches. So I like it more. So what they've done is the piano black part is the screen. And where you interact with it, it isn't any longer. And it's going to be better for dust and fingerprints. You know, we've talked about this many times, is the passenger screen thing. By the way, we're going over some speed bumps. I just want to give you an example of how. Like glides. Is the passenger screen, I don't get myself. Because Andrea, if she wants to look something up, she's got her phone. I just think that. And if you don't get that, you're just going to get a black panel. And I don't like that. I don't like that either. And I'm also not crazy about the shifter. I've said this before. Every time we drive a Porsche vehicle, some of you will say who own Porsches. You've written to me on Instagram and said, Andrea, you really do get used to it. I'm sure you do. But I just personally don't find it as intuitive to use as what we have in our older model Cayenne. I do like the feel of that steering wheel. It feels super sporty. And Porsche is using a new generation of seats. And I do find them more comfortable. More on that in a moment with these particular ones for the passengers sitting in the back. I'll show you that in just a second. So, yes, you know, you can't fight progress, right? So here we have the next generation. You're going to have more screens, dial down the piano black, familiarity like the steering wheel feels good. And yeah, so it's a nice combination of what we know and what we have to learn. But the learning part of the screen is pretty easy. Pretty easy. Also, the panoramic sunroof, guess what? The first part of that sunroof opens, which is a treat. You do not see that very often with electric vehicles. No shade, though. No shade. But I'm sure that you could add that. There should be a shade. Should be a shade. I agree. Of course, with Porsche, there's lots of different colors to choose from. And you can go with partial leather, club leather, Nappa leather or leather free. There's so many options and different trim pieces to really make this your own. Available features include an augmented reality head up display, Bose surround sound system, Burmester 3D surround sound system, 14 way comfort seats, 18 way power adaptive sport seats, ventilated front seats, heated and ventilated rear seats, massaging seats, heated armrests, door panels and center console and a panoramic sunroof. Well, here's me getting in the back seat. First thing I notice is the legroom is good. The headroom is very, very good. The seats are kind of firm, though. And speaking of the seats, when you put the armrest down and then you sort of slouch, the seat backs of the front seats are very high. You don't really get to see very much. How does it stack up? Compared to the gas model, the Cayenne offers two inches more rear seat legroom. Lifting up the power liftgate on this, this is the one reason why you'd get this over Macan. It's just a bigger vehicle. You get a large cargo area. However, there's no spare tire. There is more storage under the floor. Behind the second row, this electric model has 27.6 cubic feet of space and 56.7 cubic feet of overall space. The Cayenne has a small frunk that's 3.2 cubic feet. So charging is important. Range is important. We're going to get into all of that in our Vital Stats. Let's start with pricing. We'll do Canada first and then we'll move on to the U.S. We're using MSRP. The base model starts at just over $131,000. That's a lot. And the turbo, just over $178,000. In the U.S., the base model starts at $109,000 and that top trim turbo, $163,000. This electric Cayenne comes with a 9.6 kilowatt onboard charger, available 19.2 kilowatt hour charger. This EV is compatible with an 800 volt charging architecture with charging speeds up to 390 kilowatts. With a DC fast charger, it will charge from 10% to 80% in 16 minutes. With a level two charger, from zero to 100% in 13 hours. At a 400 volt charging station, 10 to 80% in 26 minutes. There are two charging ports, one on the driver's side, one on the passenger side. It is equipped with the North American charging port standard and the old standard. This is the first Porsche to offer an available charging ground pad. The towing capacity is 7,700 pounds and the warranty is four years, 80,000 kilometers or 50,000 miles. Lightning round, two things we like, two things we'd like to see improved. I love how it handles on those twisty roads. I'm enjoying this more than a lot of other new EVs that we've driven. I'd love to see a shade. I can feel the sun on me and it's not even a super hot day. It's kind of hot. It's out there shooting in the sun. Well, we're waiting to get this back as a full week-long test and then we'll be able to really drill down on this. So there it is. It's our first look. What do you guys think of this? The all new electric Cayenne. Thanks for watching. And if you like what you see, make sure you subscribe. We'll see you next time.