The electric Porsche Cayenne now has supercar numbers Porsche Cayenne Turbo Electric: 1,156PS and 2.5 Seconds

For all the attention Porsche’s move to electric power has generated, perhaps the most surprising number attached to its latest EV isn’t its range or charging speed.

It’s 1,156.

That is the maximum horsepower available from the new Cayenne Turbo Electric, making a large, five-seat family SUV the most powerful production Porsche ever built.

Not a 911. Not a Taycan. Not one of Stuttgart’s limited-production track specials. A Cayenne.

The new flagship produces up to 850kW, or 1,156PS, and 1,500Nm of torque with Launch Control activated, enough to send it from 0–100km/h in just 2.5 seconds.

Keep the accelerator pinned and 200km/h arrives in 7.4 seconds, before the Cayenne eventually reaches its 260km/h top speed. Those numbers put a vehicle capable of carrying five people and their luggage firmly into supercar territory.

It also represents something of a full-circle moment for the Cayenne.

When Porsche first revealed the original Cayenne more than two decades ago, the idea that the sports car specialist would build an SUV was controversial. It went on to become one of the company’s most important models and helped expand Porsche well beyond the traditional two-door sports car market.

Now the Cayenne is again being used to push Porsche into new territory.

The Cayenne Turbo Electric sits at the top of a growing three-model electric range in Australia, above the Cayenne Electric and Cayenne S Electric. Crucially, Porsche isn’t abandoning combustion power in the process. Petrol and plug-in hybrid versions of the Cayenne continue alongside the new electric generation, giving buyers a choice of powertrains rather than forcing an immediate wholesale transition.

But if the electric Cayenne is supposed to demonstrate what Porsche believes the next generation of its luxury SUV can do, the Turbo is the exclamation point.

In normal driving it produces up to 630kW, or 857PS. A Push-to-Pass function can temporarily add another 130kW for 10 seconds, while the full 850kW is unleashed with Launch Control.

Managing that much performance repeatedly is considerably more complicated than simply fitting powerful electric motors.

Porsche has equipped the rear motor with direct oil cooling, technology derived from motorsport, designed to maintain high continuous power output and efficiency rather than deliver one spectacular acceleration run before heat begins limiting performance.

It is part of the broader engineering challenge facing the new Cayenne.

Porsche hasn’t simply had to make a very fast electric SUV. It has had to make a 1,156PS electric SUV behave like a Porsche.

Adaptive air suspension with Porsche Active Suspension Management is standard, while the Turbo adds Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus. Rear-axle steering, capable of turning the rear wheels by up to five degrees, is optional.

Buyers can also specify Porsche Active Ride, the active suspension technology already seen elsewhere in the Porsche range. The system is designed to almost completely compensate for pitch and roll movements, helping keep the body level under acceleration, braking and cornering. That becomes particularly relevant in a large SUV carrying a substantial battery beneath its floor.

Even braking has been approached differently.

The Cayenne Electric can recover energy at up to 600kW under deceleration, a figure Porsche compares with the recuperation capabilities of its Formula E racing cars. The company says around 97 per cent of everyday braking can consequently be handled by the electric motors without requiring the conventional friction brakes.

For those intending to explore the outer edges of its performance envelope, Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes remain available on the Turbo.

Then there is the battery.

A 113kWh high-voltage battery sits at the centre of the Cayenne’s new 800-volt electrical architecture. For the Turbo, Porsche quotes a European WLTP range of up to 623 kilometres, although Australian-specific range figures can vary depending on specification and testing.

More impressive is how quickly that battery can theoretically be replenished.

The Cayenne can accept DC charging at up to 390kW under optimal conditions, briefly reaching as much as 400kW under specific circumstances. Porsche says a 10 to 80 per cent charge can take less than 16 minutes when connected to sufficiently powerful infrastructure and with the battery at the appropriate temperature.

That potentially addresses one of the compromises that has traditionally separated a long-distance electric luxury SUV from its petrol equivalent.

Finding a charger capable of delivering anywhere near 400kW is another matter, particularly in Australia, but the car itself has been engineered with considerably more charging capacity than much of today’s infrastructure can provide.

Porsche is going further at home.

The Cayenne Electric is the first Porsche designed to support optional wireless charging. Rather than plugging the car into a wallbox, owners will eventually be able to park above a floor plate capable of inductively charging the battery at up to 11kW.

The system automatically recognises the vehicle and allows it to lower itself into the appropriate position above the plate. Porsche expects the wireless charging system to become available to order in Australia in the fourth quarter of 2026, with Australian Cayenne Electric models pre-wired to allow it to be retrofitted, unless buyers opt out.

For all those numbers, however, the Cayenne still has to fulfil the role that has made it such an important Porsche for more than 20 years. It needs to be useful.

The electric model is 4,985mm long and rides on a 3,023mm wheelbase, almost 13 centimetres longer between the axles than the combustion-engined Cayenne.

Most of that extra space has been used to improve rear passenger accommodation.

The electrically adjustable rear seats can move between comfort and cargo-oriented positions, while luggage capacity ranges from 781 litres to 1,588 litres. Removing an engine from the front also creates a further 90-litre luggage compartment under the bonnet.

Depending on specification, the Cayenne Electric can tow as much as 3.5 tonnes. It is that collision of figures that perhaps best explains the new Turbo.

This is a vehicle capable of reaching 100km/h in 2.5 seconds and producing 1,500Nm of torque, yet it can also carry a family, swallow more than 1,500 litres of luggage with the rear seats configured for cargo and tow a substantial boat or caravan.

Inside, Porsche has similarly moved the Cayenne further into its digital era.

The new Porsche Driver Experience combines a fully digital instrument display with the curved central Flow Display, while a separate passenger display and augmented-reality head-up display are available.

Despite the expansion of screen real estate, Porsche has retained a mixture of digital and physical controls rather than moving every function behind a touchscreen.

Australian Turbo models also receive a generous standard specification, including a panoramic roof, ventilated front seats, four-zone climate control, privacy glass and Porsche’s Parking Entry Package with Surround View and Self-Steering ParkAssist.

And we now know what all of it will cost.

The Cayenne Turbo Electric is priced from $259,900 before on-road costs in Australia, compared with $167,800 for the Cayenne Electric and $193,100 for the Cayenne S Electric.

Orders are already open, with the first Australian deliveries expected from the third quarter of 2026.

There is also a Cayenne Turbo Coupé Electric for buyers wanting the same extraordinary drivetrain beneath a more sporting roofline. It is priced from $272,100 before on-road costs.

Ultimately, however, the significance of the Turbo isn’t simply that Porsche has electrified another model. The company has used electrification to move the performance ceiling of the Cayenne somewhere it has never been before.

For more than six decades, Lamborghini has built its reputation on producing some of the world’s most recognisable supercars. From the Miura and Countach to the contemporary Revuelto and Temerario, the Italian manufacturer has consistently combined extraordinary performance with an equally distinctive approach to design.

Its latest project, however, has little to do with horsepower, acceleration or the introduction of another high-performance model.

Instead, Automobili Lamborghini is turning its attention to something considerably more difficult to define: what makes Italian excellence uniquely Italian?

The answer, or at least an attempt to find one, forms the basis of The Italian Excellence Code, a new three-part film series starring award-winning Italian actor, writer and director Stefano Accorsi.

Launched in October, the project explores the concept of italianità, the distinctive cultural identity that Lamborghini believes underpins not only its own vehicles but the broader reputation of Italian design, manufacturing and craftsmanship.

It is an interesting departure for a company whose communications have traditionally revolved around its products, their performance and the technology behind them. Here, the cars provide the backdrop to a wider examination of the culture responsible for creating them.

Accorsi, who was born in Bologna, close to Lamborghini’s headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese, guides viewers through three different expressions of Italian life. Each represents an element that the company believes contributes to the country’s reputation for excellence: taste, ingenuity and flair.

The first chapter begins in an Italian piazza, where Accorsi considers how everyday surroundings, human interaction, colour and design contribute to an aesthetic sensibility that is difficult to replicate.

It is a study of taste, not simply as an appreciation of beauty, but as an instinctive understanding of proportion, character and the choices that shape a particular way of life.

The second chapter moves into the world of fencing, using the sport’s combination of precision, technical skill and controlled movement to explore ingenuity.

For Lamborghini, the connection is clear. Engineering excellence is not simply a matter of developing more powerful machinery, but of continually refining the relationship between performance, technique and design.

The final instalment turns to Italian opera, where tradition and individual interpretation come together through performance. Here, the focus is on flair, the ability to take something technically accomplished and give it personality, emotion and originality.

Together, the three chapters attempt to explain the cultural influences that have helped distinguish Italian products in international luxury markets.

Lamborghini describes Made in Italy as extending beyond the conventional measures of manufacturing and design, arguing that the designation carries a cultural identity that cannot be explained through technical specifications alone.

That philosophy has been evident throughout the company’s history.

Founded by Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, the marque emerged during a period when Italy was establishing itself as a global centre of automotive design. Its early models helped challenge established ideas about how a grand touring car or supercar should look, with the Miura in particular becoming one of the defining automotive designs of the 1960s.

The Countach subsequently introduced an angular, dramatic design language that would influence Lamborghini models for decades. Its wedge-shaped profile, scissor doors and unconventional proportions helped establish the visual identity that remains central to the brand.

Those characteristics have carried through to the current generation of vehicles, even as the engineering has changed considerably.

The Revuelto combines Lamborghini’s naturally aspirated V12 engine with hybrid technology, while the Temerario represents another stage in the company’s transition towards electrification.

Yet the visual language remains unmistakably Lamborghini. Sharp lines, dramatic proportions and an emphasis on theatre continue to distinguish its cars from other manufacturers competing in the same segment.

This is where The Italian Excellence Code becomes particularly relevant.

In a luxury automotive market where performance figures can increasingly be matched or surpassed, manufacturers need to communicate qualities that are less easily measured.

Engineering innovation remains essential, but the relationship between a product and its cultural origins can be equally important in establishing its long-term appeal.

For Lamborghini, its Italian identity is not simply a geographical detail. It is a central part of the proposition.

The company’s headquarters and manufacturing operations remain in Sant’Agata Bolognese, a relatively small town in Emilia-Romagna, within one of Europe’s most important automotive and manufacturing regions.

The surrounding area has developed a concentration of specialist engineering expertise, manufacturing knowledge and automotive heritage that provides a distinctive setting for a global luxury brand.

The company’s decision to explore Italian culture through film also reflects a broader shift in how luxury manufacturers communicate with their audiences.

Rather than relying exclusively on product launches and traditional advertising, brands increasingly use cultural storytelling to establish a deeper connection with customers and enthusiasts.

Fashion, architecture, art, hospitality and design have become important reference points for luxury businesses seeking to position themselves within a wider cultural conversation.

Lamborghini’s latest project operates in similar territory, although it is more accurately described as a brand film series than a new commercial platform.

The choice of Accorsi is significant. An established figure in Italian cinema, with personal ties to the region where Lamborghini was founded, he provides a connection between the automotive manufacturer and the country’s broader creative industries.

His involvement also allows the story to unfold without relying on the familiar format of executives discussing engineering achievements or designers explaining the development of a new vehicle.

Instead, Lamborghini is inviting viewers to consider the influences that sit behind the finished product.

It is an approach that could resonate with an international audience increasingly familiar with Italian luxury through fashion houses, furniture manufacturers, architecture and hospitality, as much as through automotive marques.

There is, of course, a commercial consideration. Lamborghini’s vehicles are sold internationally, but much of their desirability remains connected to their place of origin. Preserving that association becomes particularly important as the company introduces new technologies and adapts to changing expectations around performance and electrification.

The challenge is to demonstrate that the values associated with Italian craftsmanship remain relevant even as the products themselves evolve.

For a manufacturer whose history has been defined by mechanical innovation and unconventional design, the balance between tradition and progress is hardly new.

What The Italian Excellence Code does is give that relationship a more deliberate cultural expression.

The series does not introduce a new car, establish a new product category or announce an expansion into hospitality or lifestyle experiences. Its purpose is more fundamental: to explain why the identity behind a Lamborghini matters as much as the engineering that powers it.

And in a luxury market where technical excellence is increasingly expected, that may be one of the more valuable distinctions a manufacturer can make.

The electric Porsche Cayenne now has supercar numbers

Porsche’s Cayenne Turbo Electric produces up to 1,156PS and reaches 100km/h in a claimed 2.5 seconds.

Automobili Lamborghini is turning its attention to something considerably more difficult to define: what makes Italian excellence uniquely Italian?