I Drove a Porsche Cayenne EV Prototype 328 Miles on a Single Charge

• The Porsche Cayenne Electric is imminent; this new SUV will debut in November.
• I took a prototype out to the California desert to put it through an unofficial range test.
• My testing shows an estimated range of 328 miles for the base Cayenne EV.

Going the distance

While our own Edmunds EV Range Test consists of a split city/highway route meant to mimic the habits of real-world drivers, this Porsche-sponsored drive was a freeway-only affair. This means the Cayenne's range might end up being a bit better when someone from Edmunds' testing team hooks up a VBOX to the production Cayenne and hits the mean streets of Southern California.

In the Cayenne Electric prototype, I set off from a hotel parking lot in Rancho Cucamonga, hopped on the 10 freeway and headed east. I drove through the Inland Empire, past Palm Springs, and eventually to Blythe near the Arizona/California border before turning around. While on the freeway, I had the Cayenne in its standard drive mode with the air conditioning set to auto and 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Aside from one or two small bursts of acceleration in order to pass sluggish trucks, I mostly used the cruise control to keep the Cayenne at a steady 71 mph. My test car also had three people in it, which might not have a huge negative effect on range, but surely doesn't help either. It was mega hot that Saturday, with ambient temperatures fluctuating between 90 and 100 degrees out in the desert. Not great for electric vehicle efficiency — or sparse air-conditioning use.

When we run the official Edmunds EV Range Test, not only will it be with one person in the car, but also with a lower average speed (40 mph). Both of these things should increase the Cayenne's number.

In the end, I didn't make it all the way out to Blythe and back on a single charge, but when I stopped at an Electrify America station, I had driven 301.9 miles with the Cayenne showing an 8% state of charge. That equates to 328 miles of estimated driving range.

To put that into perspective, the standard Tesla Model X has an EPA-estimated range of 329 miles, the base BMW iX comes in at 312 miles, and the Cadillac Lyriq has 326 miles. In other words, my 328-mile estimate puts the Cayenne Electric in good company among similarly sized luxury EV SUVs.

So, how's the Cayenne?

I can't say much about the 2026 Cayenne Electric that hasn't been said before. All models will use a 113-kWh battery pack, and I drove a base trim on this test. The Cayenne boasts a maximum charging power of up to 400 kW, which will be great if and when the U.S. ever installs public chargers that can deliver energy at that rate. The top Cayenne Turbo Electric will allegedly be the most powerful road car Porsche has ever produced, so its output should surpass that of the 1,019-horsepower Taycan Turbo GT.

On my freeway drive, the Cayenne's adaptive air suspension did a great job smoothing out California's jarring pavement expansion joints while still providing the sort of planted, taut ride you'd expect from a Porsche. Regenerative and mechanical braking integrated nicely without any harsh transitions, and the steering was Porsche-spec perfect with good weight and direct response. TL;DR: The Cayenne felt like a Cayenne. For more thorough impressions, read Tim Stevens' first drive review.

I was particularly enamored by the curved infotainment display, something my pal Duncan Brady recently detailed in depth. The seats were also plenty comfortable and supportive — and considering I drove this thing to Blythe and back, I would know. I didn't get a chance to play around with the Cayenne's driver assistance tech beyond adaptive cruise control, but I like that the head-up display used augmented reality to show me turn-by-turn directions.

Porsche will fully reveal the new Cayenne Electric in November, so it won't be long before I can tell you everything there is to know. Once Porsche's new EV makes its way to Edmunds HQ, we'll give you our full testing results, but based on this early range drive, I'm expecting good things.