There is nothing in Porsche’s engineering to blame for whatever hard times the company is going through

This, of course, in a sport utility that can, with little compromise to comfort and civility, transport a pastel of kidlets to school, fit their hockey bags in the trunk and, surprisingly enough, ride more comfortably across broken pavement that those in the baby seats will remain undisturbed in their much cherished — for both infant and parent — slumber.

This last is made even more amazing by the fact that, according to Car and Driver, such a Cayenne Turbo can circle a skid pad fast enough to record 1.05 g’s of lateral acceleration, a feat that not so long ago any Corvette could emulate. That’s about the same as Ferrari’s Purosangue, the best-handling SUV I’ve ever tested.

I had neither skid pad nor stopwatch to verify either assertion — that it can manage 1.05 g’s or steer as well as the Ferrari — but I did play silly buggers with the Turbo Electric and it is definitely a supercar disguised as SUV. Oh, it’s not as delicate in its machinations as a Purosangue — a curb weight of almost 6,000 pounds means the Turbo’s fleetness of foot always feels a triumph of sophisticated suspension over extreme BMI — but it still manages to be inches-precise in its steering and brutally resistant to body roll. It’s not quite the glorious excess that is the twin electric motors’ acceleration, but by SUV standards, even compared to the might of Ferrari, it’s absolutely amazing. That said, if one were to decide to “track” it, I suspect you’d wear out those big — 285/40ZR22 front and 325/35R22 rears — Pirelli PZero Rs pretty darned quickly.

It’s also impressively efficient. Officially rated at 480 kilometres, I managed to eke out 450 kilometres on a single battery charge.  A fairly impressive figure, those 450 klicks are not the result of a huge battery hidden in its lower floor. In fact, the Cayenne sports a 113-kilowatt-hour battery of which 108-kWh are useable. That’s just about the same as BMW’s ix5 M50 — 111.5-kWh nominal and 105-kWh useable — and it managed just 414 kilometres. Do the math and the Porsche’s efficiency was 24.0-kWh/100 km, a full point and a half better than the BMW. In fact, the big Porsche is almost as energy efficient as Lucid’s Gravity, the heretofore leader in battery-powered EV parsimony. That it does so with all that supercar horsepower is both a triumph of Porsche engineering and proof that, at the very least, electric vehicles are a lot better than ICEs at increasing performance without burning more ‘fuel.’

As for charging, the Cayenne is equally impressive. According to EVKX.net, the Turbo can just touch 400-kilowatts while charging (albeit for just 1% of its entire charging curve), replenish its battery from 10% to 80% state if charge in just fourteen-and-a-half minutes and, perhaps most impressively of all, maintain more than 300-kilowatts all the way from 8% to 54% SoC. According to Porsche, those excellent specs speak to Porsche’s high-tech 800-volt, nickel-manganese-cobalt-aluminum chemistry (heavy on the nickel, by the way).

All that said, Porsche also cuts charging current so abruptly at 54% SoC — when it’s just touching that 400-kW mark — that it drops all the way down to 295-kW at 55%, an indication of just how close to the ‘edge’ the Cayenne’s NMCA battery and its cooling system is being pushed. It also requires high-power charging stations — probably 500-kW systems — that are not yet available in Canada. And as a last caveat, North American Cayenne Electrics come with a Tesla NACS port which, while more plentiful and reliable, are a bunch slower. On a 400V Tesla charger, 10% to 80% SoC ‘refueling’ would probably take about 45 minutes.

All that said, the electric Cayenne is offering a first with the availability of an inductive charging system. Basically, roll over a 60-mm charging pad on the floor of your garage and Bim! Boom! Bang!, your Cayenne Turbo will start charging as quickly and effortlessly as your cell phone in a wireless charging pod. It really is that effortless; you’ll be guided to optimal vehicle positioning via the centre touchscreen and the suspension drops so that the distance between charging pad and onboard receiver — a 15-kilogram water-cooled receptor mounted underneath some of the Electric’s protective front cladding — to maximize the magnetic field connection. Porsche says this wireless charging system is good for 11-kW — sufficient for a full charge overnight — and that, yes, it can be used for an outside parking space (though there’s no mention of whether it can survive a winter in the great Canadian outdoors). Also, there’s no official prices for the full system yet, but pricing from the EU and U.K. suggest the total kit — charging pad and onboard receiver — will set you back between $12,000 and $16,000 when the system becomes available later this year. In the meantime, the onboard wiring needed to accommodate this system is included as part of the Turbo’s optional Premium Package.

If the exterior of the Cayenne looks somewhat traditional — if more muscular than ever — its interior is much more modern. There are pros and cons to that modernity. On the positive side, Porsche’s integration of gauge and infotainment screens into the dashboard is truly lovely. The instrument gauge is a perfectly curved screen that really does make viewing easier. The centre dashboard’s infotainment screen is likewise curved but on a vertical axis, looking very much like sheets of ice that used to slide down my northern Quebec home and splay out when they reached terra firma. It’s amazingly attractive even if the lower curve is a little too obtuse for optimum viewability. It’s joined by a long 12.25-inch affair for the passenger which offers much of the function available to the driver. It’s truly attractive.

I’m less sure of the utility of it all. The system is very busy. As in there are a lot of choices offered which, as we’re finding out can be both a good thing (for technology nerds) or a bad thing (the rest of us). There are four different instrument gauge layouts, six different Mood Modes, and five different Drive modes. There are also Themes — didn’t even go there — and so many settings one might be piloting an Airbus A380 rather than an automobile. It’s an attractive, potent system that will offer much choice in how owners configure their car, but I would not describe it as fun to use. Thankfully, Apple CarPlay integration is seamless and well laid out.

The same is true of the interior styling. It is, in a word, dramatic. There’s a wing over the dashboard that looks like a rear deck spoiler and the centre console area looks much like I’ve always imagined the Space Shuttle should look like. Tres cool! On the other hand, why a freakin’ spoiler over the instrument gauge and do I really need to drive a Space Shuttle. It will probably be polarizing: Some people will hate and others love it while still others — that would include Yours Truly — will both love it and hate it at the same time. The ‘love’ side won most of the time, but I never did get over the spoiler over the driver’s dash thingie. All that said, the cabin’s basic ingredients — the supple leather, the metallic trim bits and that big ole Chrono perched atop the centre dashboard are truly exquisite. One thing the electric Cayenne Turbo promised in spades; it’s always an occasion when you get behind the wheel.

As for more pedestrian considerations, there’s plenty of room for the front seat occupants and aa decent amount in the rear. Cargo space is also generous and there’s also some 3.2 cubic feet in what must be the most ‘cleanly’ executed frunk in the biz. That said, Porsche’s keyfob is unique — that should be read “annoying” — in that the frunk button is right at the top of fob where the door lock or unlock usually are, which means, you guessed it, I got a lot more looks at that frunk than I normally would every time I mistook it for the door open function. Having the regular rear cargo door opener all the way at the bottom just confused things even more. Note to Porsche, the function you use least — the frunk opener — should not be the button that is easiest to decipher in the dark ‘cause it’s right at the top. That said, other than the possibility of walking away from your car with the frunk wide open — again, because you thought you were locking the doors — it’s mostly just an annoyance.

Such annoyances are few, though. In fact, the Cayenne Electric Turbo is an amazing device. It’s incredibly rapid, amazingly lithe for its size, commendably efficient and, if you have access the right charger, quite quick to fill up. So, I — and maybe you — might ask, “How can Porsche possibly be having hard times?”

Well, my tester’s Monroney sticker might offer a clue. The base price of a 2026 Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric is $178,300. On the one hand, that probably assures fantastical profit-per-vehicle, something Porsche has long been famed for. On the other hand, it’s entirely possible that it’s a stretch too far, especially for the Chinese who appear, if reports are to believed, now ignoring Porsche’s products in droves.

Making matters worse, there were $26,250 in options on my tester, some of them for items that would seem, well, odd as optional. For instance, ventilated seats are part of a $5,200 package that also includes those aforementioned Mood Modes. Many cars a third of the price offer vented seats as standard equipment. Ditto the heated windshield, Porsche crests on the front seats, and a Park Assist system. Porsche has long gotten away with charging extra for features that should be standard at their price point. Maybe there’s a little price fatique amongst the upper middle class that is Porsche’s prime demographic.

The Cayenne Turbo Electric is fantastical vehicle. There is nothing in Porsche’s engineering to blame for whatever hard times the company is going through. They might want to check their pricing hubris at the door, however.

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