Richard Hammond drives Porsche Cayenne EV prototype
The days when automakers hid their camouflaged prototypes from the public are long gone. Last month, a prototype of the forthcoming electric Porsche Cayenne was entered in the Shelsley Walsh hill climb in the United Kingdom—and set a record. Now Porsche has revealed that the stunt was documented in a film shoot with former Top Gear and The Grand Tour host Richard Hammond.
Hammond, who once rolled a Vauxhall Nova hatchback at Shelsley Walsh as part of a Top Gear episode, was given the Cayenne EV prototype for a quick review that was Sunday on the DriveTribe YouTube channel. The video is a little light on details, though, as the Cayenne Electric (as Porsche calls it) isn't scheduled to start deliveries until 2026, likely making it a 2027 model in the United States.
One detail Porsche was willing to reveal was a maximum towing capacity of 7,716 pounds—the same as the current internal-combustion Cayenne. Hammond demonstrated that by towing a vintage Lagonda, estimated to weigh about 4,000 pounds with its trailer. Not surprisingly for a Porsche-sanctioned video, the Cayenne Electric prototype didn't seem to have any trouble with this task.
Porsche also promises more power than any current Cayenne model, Hammond says in the video. That means it will exceed the 729 horsepower of the Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid plug-in hybrid. Electric models will also be available with the Porsche Active Ride anti-roll system previously seen in the Taycan and Panamera.
For the hill-climb runs, Hammond handed the Cayenne over to Gabriela Jílková, simulator and development driver for the Porsche Formula E team. Jílková covered the 1,000-yard course, which climbs a 16.7% grade, in 31.28 seconds, beating the previous SUV record by more than four seconds. She also covered the first 60 yards in 1.94 seconds, a time normally achievable only with purpose-built single-seaters on slick tires, Porsche claims. The Cayenne prototype ran on summer road tires.
Porsche plans to bring the camouflaged prototype to the Goodwood Festival of Speed this month, but the automaker hasn't said when the camo will finally come off. When that time comes, the Cayenne Electric will take its place alongside standard gasoline and plug-in hybrid Cayenne models.
Richard Hammond drives Porsche Cayenne EV prototype first appeared on Autoblog on Jul 7, 2025
This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Jul 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
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