In June 2017, Richard Hammond crashed a Rimac Concept_One during a hill climb event in Switzerland. To say it was a close call would be an understatement, as the electric hypercar burst into flames and fell down a hill moments after the journalist got out of the wreckage. He lived to tell the story, escaping with only a fractured knee. Fast-forward eight years, and the former Top Gear and The Grand Tour star got back in the saddle by taking part in another hill climb.
Hammond drove an EV once again, but of an entirely different nature, as Porsche asked him to hop behind the wheel of a pre-production Cayenne. The purely electric SUV attended the Shelsley Walsh hill climb, where Gabriela Jilkova, a development driver in the company’s Formula E program, smashed the SUV record. Since the world premiere won’t take place until later this year, Porsche was tight-lipped about the details. However, they did share some juicy tidbits.
For example, Hammond says the fourth-gen, electric-only Cayenne will be slightly bigger than today’s gas-fueled model. Porsche won’t divulge numbers, but we’ll remind you that the current vehicle is about 194 inches (over 4.9 meters) long and 78.1 inches (1.98 meters) wide. We believe the new EV will sit taller due to the battery pack, so expect the ride height to increase beyond the gas model’s 66 inches (1.67 meters).
It’ll be able to tow 3,500 kilograms (7,716 pounds), a full 1,000 kg (2,204 lbs) more than a BMW iX, which is no easy feat considering EVs are limited in that regard due to the bulky batteries they carry. As with its smaller brother, the electric Macan, the new Cayenne EV will have a front trunk, but Porsche wouldn’t let Hammond show it on camera.
Echoing the Taycan, the next-generation Cayenne features the Porsche Active Ride chassis technology, which keeps the body level at all times by absorbing road imperfections almost completely. Active dampers reduce pitch and roll, enabling a smooth ride. Logic tells us it’ll be heavier than the smaller electric crossover, which already tips the scales at a porky 5,393 pounds (2,446 kilograms) for the Turbo version in U.S. specification.
When it comes to power, the electric Cayenne will top today’s Turbo E-Hybrid, which means it’s going to pack over 729 horsepower. Details about torque are not available, but the current flagship offers 700 pound-feet (950 Newton-meters) from a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 and an electric motor. The instant response delivered by the electric motors should enable a 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) time quicker than the 3.7 seconds needed by the Turbo E-Hybrid, even if the EV will likely weigh considerably more.
Since we mentioned the current Cayenne’s combustion engine, the new EV will still make gas car sounds by pumping artificial V-8 noises through the cabin speakers. Richard Hammond is “quite pleased about that,” but here’s hoping there will be a way to turn them off. Thankfully, his first hill climb after the fiery Rimac crash ended uneventfully.
The impending arrival of an electric Cayenne won’t spell the end for the gas version. Porsche has gone on record to say the SUV will continue with V-8 power well into the 2030s.
Source:
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