- A Porsche Cayenne EV prototype secretly competed in a hill climb competition.
- It broke the previous record by four seconds.
The electric Porsche Cayenne, which should be revealed sometime this year, just smashed a hill climb record. Despite it not being exactly finished and ready for prime time yet, a camouflaged Cayenne EV prototype showed up at the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb in the United Kingdom this past weekend and swept the floor with the competition.
As spotted by The Drive, the purple electric Cayenne was driven by Gabriela Jilkova, development driver at Porsche’s Formula E program, who gave it everything. In complete silence, Jilkova wrestled the battery-powered SUV along the 1,000-yard (914-meter) track in just 31.28 seconds.
A Porsche Cayenne EV prototype going up the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb
Photo by: HillClimb.tv
That’s four seconds faster than the previous record for SUVs at Shelsley Walsh, set by a Bentley Bentayga W12, and a hair faster than the fastest production electric car, a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, which did the climb in 31.43 seconds.
“I’ll tell you what, for a big car, that is scuttering up the hill–something special,” the announcers said
Now, it’s worth noting that the Cayenne EV isn’t a production car just yet, but it’s still mighty impressive that an SUV was quicker than a sports sedan. In other words, if you were worried that the upcoming electric Cayenne would be boring or slow, this result should put your mind at ease.
We still don’t know a lot about the upcoming electric Cayenne. Based on the same PPE platform as the new Macan EV, the battery-powered Cayenne will be sold alongside a heavily reworked version of the current gas-powered model well into the 2030s. Initially, the new Cayenne was supposed to be electric-only, just like the new Macan, but Porsche toned down its ambitions recently after disappointing sales.
Besides the electric Cayenne and Macan, Porsche is planning on introducing yet another crossover that will supposedly become the new flagship for the German automaker. Codenamed K1, the SUV is expected to offer seating for seven people when it hits the market sometime toward the end of the decade.
The Shelsley Walsh hill climb, where the Cayenne EV smashed the SUV record, is part of the 2025 British Hill Climb Championship. Located in Worcestershire, Shelsley Walsh is the oldest motorsport venue in the world to still use its original course, with the first recorded use going back to August 12, 1905.