Cayenne EV prototype sets new record

STUTTGART: As part of the fine-tuning of the upcoming all-electric Porsche Cayenne, the German premium automaker sent a near-production prototype on a record-gathering mission.

At the Shelsley Walsh hill climb, which has been running since 1905, a near-production prototype of the all-electric SUV (sport utility vehicle) took part in a filming project while mingling with entrants competing in the British Hillclimb Championship.

Gabriela Jílková, simulator and development driver for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, drove the camouflaged Cayenne Electric up the asphalt hill, which is only three and a half metres wide in places, has a steep gradient of up to 16.7% and totals 914 metres in length.

She did so with success: on her very first attempt, Jílková beat the previous record time for an SUV by more than four seconds.

“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.”


The Cayenne Electric was equipped with Porsche Active Ride, which will be offered by Porsche in the SUV in the future.

The active chassis keeps the body level at all times, even during dynamic braking, steering and acceleration processes.

“Porsche Active Ride significantly expands the range between driving dynamics and ride comfort in the new Cayenne,” says Product Line Cayenne vice president Michael Schätzle.

In England, British TV presenter Richard Hammond used the camouflaged prototype as part of a film shoot to transport a classic car more than 100 years old and weighing more than two tonnes from his work-shop in Hereford to his garage.

Although the total weight with the trailer came to around three tonnes, the Cayenne Electric mastered the task effortlessly, according to Hammond: “We were trailing significant weight behind us, but you wouldn’t know it – the Cayenne handled it effortlessly.”

Porsche has designed the Cayenne Electric to be so robust in terms of body, drive and the thermal management of its high-voltage system that the SUV meets all the requirements to be one of the first BEVs (battery electric vehicle) in the world to achieve a towing capacity of up to 3.5 tonnes, depending on the configuration, and also to receive the corresponding approval – just like the current, combustion-engined Cayenne.

"Our customers have always appreciated the high utility value of the Cayenne,” continues Schätzle. “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,” says Schätzle.

“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."