- Cayenne Electric smashes Shelsley Walsh SUV record by 4sec (bye bye Bentayga).
- Showcase for new Porsche Active Ride system.
- Richard Hammond tows 3-tonne trailer (not on the hillclimb, obviously.
Porsche has sent a "conspicuously camouflaged" (the company's words) near-production prototype of the forthcoming Porsche Cayenne Electric to the UK for a trio of publicity projects.

These included a visit to the famous Shelsley Walsh hill climb, a very new-tech car at one of the world's oldest motorsport events (established in 1905).
The Cayenne mingled with classic cars at the event, before taking a run up the hill in the hands of Gabriela Jílková, simulator and development driver for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team.

The vehicle also starred in a short film with ex-Top Gear and Grand Tour presenter Richard Hammond, who used it to tow a trailer carrying a 100-year-old Lagonda - a total weight of around 3 tonnes.
Finally, the Cayennne Electric will be on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, from 10-13 July 2025.
Cayenne Electric sets new hillclimb record
Jílková piloted the Porsche up the Shelsley Walsh hill at speed; the track is only 3.5m wide in places, has a steep gradient of up to 16.7% and is 914 metres long. On her first attempt, she beat the previous record time for an SUV (a Bentley Bentayga) by more than 4 seconds: 31:28.

“The course is challenging and does not forgive mistakes,” she said. “There are no run-off zones and little room for correction. But the active suspension gives the new Cayenne enormous stability and precision. I felt completely confident at all times.”
The Cayenne Electric was equipped with Porsche Active Ride, which will be offered for the SUV "in the future", says the company. The active chassis keeps the body level at all times, ensuring a balanced distribution of wheel loads.

“Porsche Active Ride significantly expands the range between driving dynamics and ride comfort in the new Cayenne,” says Michael Schätzle, vice president of Product Line Cayenne.
In addition to the record time, another number was highlighted at Shelsley Walsh: the first measuring point, 18.3m (60ft) beyond the starting line, was passed after just 1.94 seconds. Only single-seater racing cars with slick tyres were able to duplicate that performance, says Porsche. The Cayenne was running on "conventional summer tyres".

Porssche has still not given a final launch date for the new model. Schätzle says tuning of the Cayenne Electric is still in full swing, “but the drive power and equipment of the record-breaking car were already at production level”.
Richard Hammond's Cayenne Electric tow test
British TV presenter Richard Hammond used the camouflaged prototype as part of a film shoot to transport a classic car more than 100 years old and weighing more than two tonnes, from his workshop in Hereford to his garage (see video above).

“We were trailing significant weight behind us, but you wouldn’t know it – the Cayenne handled it effortlessly,” said Hammond.
Porsche says it has designed the thermal management of its high-voltage system that the SUV meets all the requirements to be one of the first BEVs in the world to achieve a towing capacity of up to 3.5 tonnes, depending on the configuration.

"Our customers will also have powerful and efficient combustion engine and hybrid models at their disposal well into the next decade, and we are continuing to develop the current model generation at great expense,” says Schätzle.
“However, we can only achieve the level of performance publicly demonstrated for the first time in England through the potential of electrification. The Cayenne Electric will set new standards – without compromising on everyday usability and practicality."