Porsche Says the New Cayenne Electric Is Better Off-Road Than the Gas Model

Porsche's Unexpected Savior

When the original Cayenne landed more than 20 years ago, it kept Porsche alive and opened the brand to buyers who needed something more practical than a 911. It also effectively placed Porsche in an unexpected corner of the SUV world. Despite its luxury-car focus, the Cayenne proved surprisingly useful off-road, enough that custom off-road builds and lifted one-offs became a quiet subculture.

Now the Cayenne Electric enters the picture as a separate model line. It brings a new platform, new powertrain, and a curb weight that climbs to roughly 5,830 pounds, making it the heaviest Cayenne ever.

Porsche, however, insists the added mass hasn't turned it into a soft-roader. In fact, the company says the EV version performs "much better" off-road than the combustion model it will sell alongside.

And Here's Why

Michael Schaetzle, Porsche's vice president for the Cayenne line, says the team expected the EV to match the combustion-powered model. Testing suggested something else.

"We are working on the car so that the off-road capabilities are as good as the combustion-engine Cayenne," Schaetzle told Australia's Drive. "We did our work in Weissach, and then we came to Dubai, and it was better than we believed."

"It's unbelievable. You have to switch on the sound mode because it's very important you hear the slip. It's so easy because you've got so much power. You're going up the dune and you can modify the power perfectly. It's much better than the ICE," Schaetzle added.

The optional Offroad Package lifts the EV to roughly 9.6 inches of ground clearance and increases the approach angle to 25 degrees, along with reworked axles, tires, and Porsche's Active Ride System.

Not Bad in Other SUV Tasks, Too

Of note, the Cayenne Electric has a 7,700-lb towing capacity, matching the previous versions. Porsche knows towing hits range, but the company argues this is normal across all powertrains. In the same report, Dirk Britzen, who heads Cayenne's sales and marketing, notes that load, speed, and terrain will determine how much range falls off.

To verify the numbers, Schaetzle said that Porsche towed its own speedboat about 236 miles from Salzburg to Stuttgart. The EV managed roughly 155 miles of motorway cruising with the boat in tow. With its 800-volt architecture enabling up to 400-kW DC charging, Porsche says a 10-80 percent recharge took less than 16 minutes during development tests.

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