Porsche Cayenne Electric Sets New Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb Record

The prototype version of the Porsche Cayenne Electric just set a new hill climb record ahead of its much-anticipated debut.

It is no secret that Porsche is in the midst of developing its new all-electric SUV, the Porsche Cayenne Electric. Ahead of its long-awaited debut, its prototype version, which is still wrapped in camouflage, has just set a new hill climb record at Shelsley Walsh during its testing period.

Tasked with driving the Cayenne Electric prototype through the 1,000-yard (914-meter) hill climb with a steep 16.7% gradient was Gabriela Jílkove, simulator and development driver for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team. The prototype managed to beat the previous record for an SUV by more than four seconds with a time of 31.28 seconds.

Besides the fastest SUV hill climb record, the prototype also set the fastest record for reaching the first measuring point of 18.3 metres (60 yards) from the starting line. Clocking in at just 1.94 seconds, this record was previously set by purpose-built, single-seat race cars with slick tyres, thus making the Cayenne Electric’s achievement seem more impressive.

Apart from the record-breaking feat, Porsche has also unveiled additional details regarding the new, all-electric Cayenne. For starters, the Stuttgart automaker confirmed that the EV SUV will get a towing capacity of up to 3.5 tonnes. And to demonstrate this, Porsche has enlisted the help of former Top Gear host Richard Hammond, who used the prototype to tow a classic car that weighs over two tonnes from his workshop to his garage.

And just like the ongoing, ICE-powered Cayenne, the Cayenne Electric will also ride on the marque’s proprietary Porsche Active Ride active chassis system, which promises to keep the heavy SUV body level at all times. 

As a recap, the upcoming Porsche Cayenne Electric will underpin the same Premium Platform Electric (PPE) with an 800-volt electrical architecture as the Macan Electric, but neither the battery nor the powertrain details were shared by Porsche for now. However, the automaker did say that it will be more powerful than the current top-spec ICE Cayenne, so we can expect some supercar-rivalling performance figures from it.

While the new Cayenne Electric will be the fourth-gen model for the nameplate, the current, third-gen ICE Cayenne will continue to be sold alongside its upcoming electric twin, at least in the foreseeable future.