► Porsche officially confirms Cayenne EV for 2025
► Fourth-gen will go electric only, using PPE platform
► Current hybrid and combustion model will continue alongside it
It’s official – Porsche has confirmed that its fourth-generation Cayenne SUV will go fully electric, and it will launch in 2025. Porsche’s testing procedure has begun for the new model, with engineers planning on putting ‘millions of test kilometres’ on prototypes between now and its launch.
What’s also interesting is the brand’s strategy for the Cayenne. First of all, the new fourth-gen Cayenne will be electric only, as Porsche confirms it will run on the VW Group Premium Platform Electric (PPE) architecture. This platform is also the one that underpins the electric Macan, as well as Audi’s Q6 e-Tron and upcoming A6 e-Tron.
The PPE platform, according to Porsche, will undergo ‘a comprehensive further development’ for the new Cayenne EV. It will still be an 800-volt architecture for quick charging, and those ‘comprehensive’ future upgrades could improve battery capacity or performance over the cars we’ve currently seen launch on the platform.
But the current Cayenne, the third-generation, will live on. Porsche has confirmed that it ‘will be further upgraded and will continue to be offered alongside the fourth, all-electric generation,’ providing powertrain alternatives including a revised version of its V8. ‘Extensive technical measures will ensure that the twin-turbo engine is ready to comply with future legislative requirements,’ says Porsche. Plug-in hybrid versions will continue, too.
This is seemingly another example of car makers lifting off the throttle a little when it comes to electrification. Slowing demand and slightly more relaxed emissions rules in certain markets has prompted some manufacturers to have a bit of a rethink, with Audi already making plans to offer combustion cars for longer than originally planned. While Porsche says it is ‘fully committed to electromobility,’ Oliver Blume – Porsche AG CEO – qualifies that point: ‘Our product strategy could enable us to deliver more than 80 per cent of our new cars fully electrified in 2030 – depending on the demand of our customers and the development of electromobility in the regions of the world.’
The new, fourth-gen and all-electric Cayenne will launch in 2025 alongside a growing range of SUVs for the performance brand. As well as its new Macan and this fresh strategy for Cayenne, Porsche has also confirmed a new flagship SUV – currently codenamed K1 – will also launch in 2027.