Porsche claims new Cayenne EV is better at off-roading than the gas equivalent

Could it be that Porsche has made a better EV off-roader in the new Cayenne EV than we were prepared for? Because, according to the German marque, it’ll take on – and beat – its gas-powered namesake.

It is, as you might imagine, an extremely bold claim.

But Porsche is adamant that the new SUV is superior to its ICE-powered stablemate.

And the claim comes from the brand’s engineers, who point to the new EV’s power delivery.

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Porsche Cayenne changes the game for Stuttgart

The Porsche Cayenne is a surprisingly important SUV.

When it first reared its head in 2002, it achieved something unique – it opened the marque to buyers who needed something different from a 911.

Creating an SUV also kept the marque alive and accessible to a new generation of buyers.

It was, in many ways, a trailblazer for many of the sports-focused SUVs we see today.

Performance brands producing SUVs is a fairly common practice now – such as the Aston Martin DBX.

But Porsche managed to blend performance and luxury for the first time with the original Cayenne.

Now, more than 20 years later, the maker has produced a Cayenne EV.

It brings with it a new platform, a new powertrain, and a brand-new curb weight.

In fact, the new Cayenne EV is the heaviest Cayenne ever produced.

Is the new Cayenne EV better than the gas sibling?

But the brand is adamant that it is also the best performing.

Further than that, the German marque is insistent that it performs ‘much better’ than its ICE-powered sibling.

Michael Schaetzle is Porsche’s vice president for the Cayenne division, and he sat down for an interview with Drive magazine to discuss the new EV.

“We are working on the car so that the off-road capabilities are as good as the combustion-engine Cayenne,” Schaetzle said.

“We did our work in Weissach, and then we came to Dubai, and it was better than we believed.”

And Schaetzle went a lot further, even putting it above the petrol-powered Cayenne.

“It’s unbelievable. You have to switch on the sound mode because it’s very important you hear the slip.”

“It’s so easy because you’ve got so much power. You’re going up the dune, and you can modify the power perfectly. It’s much better than the ICE,” Schaetzle explained.

Those are seriously big claims from the legendary German brand.

It will be fascinating to see if the new SUV can live up to the substantial hype.