CAYENNE EV SET TO PACK 986BHP ELECTRIC PUNCH

Top-spec version of new Porsche EV poised to be UK's most potent SUV

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Porsche is about to take the boldest step yet on its electrification journey by revealing a fourth-generation, battery-electric version of its most popular model, the Cayenne SUV. To be unveiled in production form later this year, the new model will be on sale in the UK this time next year. However, recognising the risk of launching a full EV version of its biggest-selling model into markets whose demand for such cars continues to waver, the firm will carry on selling and developing its existing ICE-powered Cayenne at least until 2035, said a Porsche spokesman, “and maybe beyond that”.

A prototype version of the new electric Cayenne, still covered in camouflage, appeared in action at last weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed, driven at full tilt on the hill by GT racer and Porsche development driver Gabriela Jilkova, who the previous weekend took the prototype up the historic Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in just 31.3sec - a full four seconds quicker than any SUV previously.

Porsche won't yet reveal full engineering details of its new Cayenne EV, but the model is taller and longer than the petrol car, sits on a longer wheelbase and is said to “feel a bit bigger when you drive it”. It also has a generously sized frunk in the nose.

All versions of Weissach's new electric SUV - likely to be offered in a three-model lineup of Cayenne, Cayenne S and Cayenne Turbo - will have two-motor, four-wheel-drive layouts, using Porsche's own design of motors front and rear. The rear motor is new and was developed after it was found that the Cayenne EV needed more power at the back axle.