My Cayenne Turbo EV delivered. 1st impressions review

[Beattie]

Lovely spec by the way. I’m probably going to add the PCCB’s, mainly because I don’t like rusting brakes after a wash and the associated dust you get off them afterwards. But they are an expensive option.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

97% of all breaking in a Cayenne is by regen per Porsche.

 

[Beattie]

97% of all breaking in a Cayenne is by regen per Porsche.

I saw that. It’s incredible. From that alone it almost doesn’t make any sense to get PCCB’s. I hate rust though I also wander what difference the lighter discs make with handling, as it is lighter unsprung weight?

 

[IanDB]

You didn’t go for the PCCB’s? How do you find the standard brakes?

The standard brakes are more than enough even when driving hard on the roads.
A friend has the ceramic brakes on his McLaren and they make a lot of noise.
As I’m not tracking the car,I didn’t see the point

 

[Beattie]

The standard brakes are more than enough even when driving hard on the roads.
A friend has the ceramic brakes on his McLaren and they make a lot of noise.
As I’m not tracking the car,I didn’t see the point

That’s good to hear. The noisy brakes is a problem with Ceramic brakes. Do you generate any brake dust, considering regen is used most of the time? I have PSCB’s on my Taycan, so no dust at all.

 

[cutting42]

The standard brakes are more than enough even when driving hard on the roads.
A friend has the ceramic brakes on his McLaren and they make a lot of noise.
As I’m not tracking the car,I didn’t see the point

I have them on my McLaren as well and no noises with plenty of spirited driving. However I would not them get on the Cayenne

 

[IanDB]

That’s good to hear. The noisy brakes is a problem with Ceramic brakes. Do you generate any brake dust, considering regen is used most of the time? I have PSCB’s on my Taycan, so no dust at all.

Not noticed any dust yet!

 

[Fun TC Driving]

Since 97% of our breaking is regen, our regular rotor/pad brakes would be used rarely. As to any rust caused after washing, no matter how carefully I dry (blow dry or hand dry), there remains water in the gaps between horizontal body panels, inside the mirror, so I take it around a block or two, dragging my brakes (simultaneously foot on throttle pedestal with other foot on brake pedal) to dry them out. This is how I do it on my singular ICE vehicle. BUT since most of our EV braking, 97% in the Cayenne EV’s case, is regen, might have to same-time use lots of throttle and lots of brake to dry out the rotors and pads for the Cayenne EV. Will experiment. Since we have not yet even ordered ours, hopefully an earlier recipient can experiment and post in this thread soon.

 

[Beattie]

Not noticed any dust yet!

Thanks. Btw, since seeing your Porsche decals I am considering the same. I be ordered in Algarve and turbonite techno wheels. But now wandering whether to revert back to the diamond cut wheels. Your car does look smart.

 

[IanDB]

Thanks. Btw, since seeing your Porsche decals I am considering the same. I be ordered in Algarve and turbonite techno wheels. But now wandering whether to revert back to the diamond cut wheels. Your car does look smart.

Thanks. I’m really happy with the looks.

 

[Beattie]

Thanks. I’m really happy with the looks.

A couple more questions:
Is there much difference in looks with the tinted rear lights? The configurator doesn’t give much away.
Have you tried the drive assist? Is it “hands free” on the motorway? I appreciate the law is that one hand must still be on the steering wheel. But does it keep to the middle of the lane and steer around bends? The old innodrive system wasn’t very good. I would expect this to be better, being newer tech.

 

[IanDB]

A couple more questions:
Is there much difference in looks with the tinted rear lights? The configurator doesn’t give much away.
Have you tried the drive assist? Is it “hands free” on the motorway? I appreciate the law is that one hand must still be on the steering wheel. But does it keep to the middle of the lane and steer around bends? The old innodrive system wasn’t very good. I would expect this to be better, being newer tech.

I’m not sure I could tell any difference with the tinted unless it was next to a non tinted version!

drive assist is excellent. Steering is good, adaptive cruise control and adoption of speed limits makes motorway driving a breeze.
a light touch of the hand on the bottom of the wheel and it does the rest.
not yet found a bend it doesn’t steer round by itself on a motorway or A road.

 

[Clod Reed]

I’m not sure I could tell any difference with the tinted unless it was next to a non tinted version!

drive assist is excellent. Steering is good, adaptive cruise control and adoption of speed limits makes motorway driving a breeze.
a light touch of the hand on the bottom of the wheel and it does the rest.
not yet found a bend it doesn’t steer round by itself on a motorway or A road.

I think the tinted rear light bar comes with and I quote “The light strip also has a Coming/Leaving Home function with specific animation.”… presumably different to the standard and ice blue option

 

[Beattie]

I’m not sure I could tell any difference with the tinted unless it was next to a non tinted version!

drive assist is excellent. Steering is good, adaptive cruise control and adoption of speed limits makes motorway driving a breeze.
a light touch of the hand on the bottom of the wheel and it does the rest.
not yet found a bend it doesn’t steer round by itself on a motorway or A road.

Interesting about the drive assist. Thanks for the info.

 

[Fun TC Driving]

Nice that Porsche’s InnoDrive/Drive Assist keeps getting better. There were hundreds of posts and seemingly every early 2020/2021 Taycan videos were about how lousy it was. Getting better! I would rate our 2024 Macan EV about 50% in terms of LKA ability (and find I turn it off about that percentage). I do not trust it, e.g., my hands always lightly on the wheels. But then again it sometimes surprises me and does a corner perfectly by itself. Nice to see your post IanDb and a few others commenting on the Cayenne EV’s good DriveAssist .

As much as our early iX was as bad IMO when it came to its steering, cornering, and its flat seats (all significantly improved in the 2026 MY), its software was always perfect and its equivalent of DriveAssist was excellent.