2026 Porsche Cayenne Electric Debuts

A few short years ago, I may have been surprised to read that the most powerful vehicle Porsche has ever produced would be doing it all on electrons alone. Then, a few short years later, that surprise would become less and less as more OEMs – mainstream and specialty alike – began delivering EVs with 600, 700, 800…1,000 horsepower.

Then, because the car world is cyclical, the fact that the most powerful Porsche ever is an EV SUV is once again surprising.

If you haven’t heard, EVs and the folks that build them are sailing some rough waters these days. Especially in one of the world’s largest car markets as rebates go away, as politicians deride them in favour of fossil fuel power and so on.

Nevertheless, Porsche is jumping into the mid-size EV luxury SUV game with all four tires. The high-selling Cayenne is going electric…but not all electric. Two electric models – the Cayenne Electric and Cayenne Turbo Electric — will join the existing gas and hybrid models in 2026.

In Turbo form (but how can a car with no combustion have a turb—never mind), the Cayenne Electric will complete the 0-60 mph sprint in a scant – a scant – 2.4 seconds, with the 0-100 km/h run coming just a blink of an eye after that. To achieve those figures, launch control will have to be activated. That ups the power output from 844 horsepower to 1,139 hp and 1,106 pound-feet of torque; the non-“Turbo” Cayenne Electric makes 402 hp, up to 430 with launch control and 616 lb-ft. Also, when at speed, a press of a button will unleash the full slug of power for 10 seconds.

The dual electric motors also contribute to slowing the Cayenne Electric down – yes, you read that right: slow it down – by running in reverse and providing 600 kw (about 800 hp) of recuperation. That means that in everyday driving, 97 per cent of braking can be handled by the motors, preserving brake disc and pad life. It’s a tech that Porsche says was originally developed for their Formula E race car.

Handling-wise, all the Porsche greatest hits will be available: Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), adaptive air suspension, rear-axle steering and for the first time in the Cayenne, Porsche Active Ride Control, which “leans” into corners to ensure that body roll is kept under control.

Range-wise, Porsche has only announced the European test figures of around 600 km from a 113 kwh battery. Expect about 20 per cent less than that after North American testing, but the Cayenne Electric does get the distinction of being the first Porsche model available with inductive wireless charging. It will only charge wirelessly at 11 kW, so more than likely most Cayenne Electric drivers will be making use of either the standard NACS port on the driver’s side, and/or the DC port on the passenger side. In ideal conditions, expect a 10 – 80 per cent charge time of less than 16 minutes.

The Electric is technically a next-gen Cayenne so it’s larger than the current vehicle (especially when it comes to rear-seat space), gets a new headlight design, a more clutter-free interior as well as new seats, new interior materials, the largest OLED interior display ever seen in a Porsche, head-up display with augmented reality and of course the requisite new colours and wheel designs. Bigger it may be, but it gets an improved coefficient of drag rating of 0.25, equaling that of the smaller Macan Electric.

The 2026 Porsche Cayenne Electric will start at CDN $131,300, with the Turbo starting at $178,300. Order books are now open, with vehicles arriving to dealers in the summer of ’26.