My Cayenne S EV finally arrived (first impressions, reviews, updates)

CHP · Friday at 11:08 AM

Car finally arrived, little delays here and there so ended up with 911 for 2 hours to do some errants.

In comparison to Macan EV, significant upgrade in terms of build quality, feel and ride comfort. Shouldn't have driven 911 beforehand, due to seating position, size and lack of engine sound, Cayenne obviously feels less engaging in direct comparison. Just did a quick test drive around my area to test suspension (multiple speed bumps) - works perfect and in comfort absolutely smooth. Turning circle with RWS is really good and you can throw car nicely into tight corners. Since I was driving a Mini for 6 months, I need to do more driving to get used to higher seating position again but I have to admit, Macan EV 4S felt more alive from the start.

Wivenhoe · Friday at 11:23 AM

CHP said:
Car finally arrived, little delays here and there so ended up with 911 for 2 hours to do some errants.

In comparison to Macan EV, significant upgrade in terms of build quality, feel and ride comfort. Shouldn't have driven 911 beforehand, due to seating position, size and lack of engine sound, Cayenne obviously feels less engaging in direct comparison. Just did a quick test drive around my area to test suspension (multiple speed bumps) - works perfect and in comfort absolutely smooth. Turning circle with RWS is really good and you can throw car nicely into tight corners. Since I was driving a Mini for 6 months, I need to do more driving to get used to higher seating position again but I have to admit, Macan EV 4S felt more alive from the start.

As I'm looking for comfort over performance then what you have found is good news.

PetrK · Friday at 11:51 AM

CHP said:
Car finally arrived, little delays here and there so ended up with 911 for 2 hours to do some errants.

In comparison to Macan EV, significant upgrade in terms of build quality, feel and ride comfort. Shouldn't have driven 911 beforehand, due to seating position, size and lack of engine sound, Cayenne obviously feels less engaging in direct comparison. Just did a quick test drive around my area to test suspension (multiple speed bumps) - works perfect and in comfort absolutely smooth. Turning circle with RWS is really good and you can throw car nicely into tight corners. Since I was driving a Mini for 6 months, I need to do more driving to get used to higher seating position again but I have to admit, Macan EV 4S felt more alive from the start.

Macan 4S seems to be much pleasant for one-person car. My brother has it and we compared to cayenne S that I brought today. One you sit in it, you feel the car perfectly. But the cayenne? Just a massive battle tank! Much more comfortable on damaged roads with active ride than macan 4S - MUCH MORE! But its big and heavy and you feel it in comparision to Macan.

opening the top window and putting sound into sport plus is amazing relaxation I felt in love with.

Anyway I am really happy I chose the S version with active ride. The basic one would be "too standard"...

The consumption is higher than expected. But we'll see after some time while driving my regular travels.

CHP · Friday at 2:06 PM

Wivenhoe said:
As I'm looking for comfort over performance then what you have found is good news.

Just took it for an other ride. As expected, comparison to 911 wasn't fair. For an SUV, it drives really sporty and you get used to the size really quickly. I think RWS makes a big difference, you feel it much more than on Macan EV. Even in sports, drive comfort is really pleasant. Didn't put it in Sports plus yet.

Things I noticed today:
- Panorama roof opens really wide
- Storage in centre console is not to bad but having keys in phone compartment is not a good idea as they stop charging occasionally (OK, I have driven a little like I stole it)
- Centre armrest is amazing, really comfortable.
- Mood modes may be quite brilliant as they are changing seating position - not sure how to program yet
- Build quality and feel is so good (better than 911 for some parts)
- Centre display. Curved display is brilliant, no issues.
- PMC/Widgets. Widgets are amazing but to explore full functionality of PMC I would need some time tomorrow. No way you can do this while driving so used AI a lot. All in all, works really well and major update as compared to Macan EV.
- Bose sounds really good, listened to Pink Floyd and was really happy with quality. Also many thanks to @Moheisen(FirstEV) for insisting to order insulated glass - dead quite except tire noise.
- Child lock. Everything (and I mean everything) operated via simple pressing button from wing mirror control panel (panel however not very ergonomically placed). My daughter was really cross. Took me a while to find out why rear doors no longer open from the inside - must have pressed child lock while adjusting mirrors.

Overall, it's a perfect GT and drives well enough in the city (it's a big car). Different league in terms of build quality, ride comfort and software. Macan EV however feels sportier and I like to think, Macan EV seating position is the reference for SUVs.

Moheisen(FirstEV) · Friday at 2:28 PM

CHP said:
Just took it for an other ride. As expected, comparison to 911 wasn't fair. For an SUV, it drives really sporty and you get used to the size really quickly. I think RWS makes a big difference, you feel it much more than on Macan EV. Even in sports, drive comfort is really pleasant. Didn't put it in Sports plus yet.

Things I noticed today:
- Panorama roof opens really wide
- Storage in centre console is not to bad but having keys in phone compartment is not a good idea as they stop charging occasionally (OK, I have driven a little like I stole it)
- Centre armrest is amazing, really comfortable.
- Mood modes may be quite brilliant as they are changing seating position - not sure how to program yet
- Build quality and feel is so good (better than 911 for some parts)
- Centre display. Curved display is brilliant, no issues.
- PMC/Widgets. Widgets are amazing but to explore full functionality of PMC I would need some time tomorrow. No way you can do this while driving so used AI a lot. All in all, works really well and major update as compared to Macan EV.
- Bose sounds really good, listened to Pink Floyd and was really happy with quality. Also many thanks to @Moheisen(FirstEV) for insisting to order insulated glass - dead quite except tire noise.
- Child lock. Everything (and I mean everything) operated via simple pressing button from wing mirror control panel (panel however not very ergonomically placed). My daughter was really cross. Took me a while to find out why rear doors no longer open from the inside - must have pressed child lock while adjusting mirrors.

Overall, it's a perfect GT and drives well enough in the city (it's a big car). Different league in terms of build quality, ride comfort and software. Macan EV however feels sportier and I like to think, Macan EV seating position is the reference for SUVs.

I am really thrilled that everything worked out and that the delivery went smooth!

Just waiting for the sport plus review on a B-road

CHP · Friday at 11:34 PM

Things I noticed yesterday evening (in comparison to Macan EV):
- I like to think the configurator represents the exterior of the car quite well overall. Car appears much longer though.

- PMC is much more complex (in a good way). Widgets are mazing but haven’t customized them yet. Overall, based on very limited testing though, the software feels more like an iPad.

- Cameras. What should I say, as expected for a car at this price range. 3D view is kind of a gimmick as is transparent bonnet but maybe there is a way to make the view larger.

- Spyder look good, Techno look impressive. I have Michelin in my Spyder.

CHP · 2026-06-27T09:37:00-0700

So had a go at widgets, they are amazing. Really helps to customise your car to address your needs. In particular useful with apple car play. The integration of apple car play is the best I have ever seen, you can have the upper part of display for 3rd party apps like Waze (shows traffic and road warnings without activating route planning - brilliant for those daily short drives you know), lower part for widgets which control for Porsche apps (for example route planning and charging) and Apple car play (music and phone) and run Porsche's own navigation simultaneously displayed in cockpit screen. Very impressive. Mood modes are still hit and miss, need to read the manual I guess. For those with passenger screen is quite nice as theme is extended to this screen which looks nice.

CHP · 2026-06-27T09:54:37-0700

Curved screen, best thing since sliced bread. Not sure about those negative comments from some professional car reviewers, feels natural from the start and using it is so much more comfortable and ergonomically. Split screen as mentioned above is just amazing and you can quickly go to full screen for navigation if needed. Everything else is/feels like iPad (for example sliding finger from upper screen border down for car function submenus) Yes, they mentioned scrolling may be a problem but when do you actually need to do this? For my telephone book for example I use Siri. Looking for problems that don't exist in daily life. I think this is the reference for integration, at least for those who were using smart phones and iPads in the past. The Nokia crowd may not be pleased. Wireless charging in UK is based on apple design (MagSafe). It's a bit hit and miss as I managed to misalign phone a few times while cramping other stuff in this compartment.

CHP · 2026-06-27T10:04:59-0700

Centre console, still an ongoing battle and not sure if I am going to come on top of it. There simply is no space (if both cup holders are in use) to leave you keys and smaller items like display cleaner organised. If you put cupholders in the higher position, everything slides beneath and is difficult to retrieve while driving. I think I will limit it to one cupholder for now and use the other for smaller items. Copilots would need to enter into an agreement to store and retrieve smaller items from glovebox if they wish to use the second

.

Cayven Noir · 2026-06-27T10:49:27-0700

Really enjoying these mini-reviews CHP! Keep it up.

Wivenhoe · 2026-06-27T13:07:39-0700

CHP said:
Centre console, still an ongoing battle and not sure if I am going to come on top of it. There simply is no space (if both cup holders are in use) to leave you keys and smaller items like display cleaner organised. If you put cupholders in the higher position, everything slides beneath and is difficult to retrieve while driving. I think I will limit it to one cupholder for now and use the other for smaller items. Copilots would need to enter into an agreement to store and retrieve smaller items from glovebox if they wish to use the second .

That was my fear having seen some videos - the Macan has a really useful centre ‘box’ and very accessible whilst driving. I even thought of removing the cup holders until I realised they won’t fit in the glovebox - so where to keep them for the occasional use. It looks like there is storage ahead of the phone charger that can be accessed from the side but not whilst driving and besides anything there will slide about.

I’m sure it’s only a minor niggle but a surprisingly lack of accessible storage for a ‘family SUV’

CHP · 2026-06-27T21:38:04-0700

Wivenhoe said:
That was my fear having seen some videos - the Macan has a really useful centre ‘box’ and very accessible whilst driving. I even thought of removing the cup holders until I realised they won’t fit in the glovebox - so where to keep them for the occasional use. It looks like there is storage ahead of the phone charger that can be accessed from the side but not whilst driving and besides anything there will slide about.

I’m sure it’s only a minor niggle but a surprisingly lack of accessible storage for a ‘family SUV’

Well, I looked at some storage solutions on the internet and I think I found some that would work but need to do some final measurements. Same for rear entertainment, I think I found a solution.

Overall I like to think it was the right call in terms of design. Ferry pad is amazing, centre arm rest very comfortable and overall layout very ergonomically for using centre display. I neither like exposed cup holders nor iPhone charging stations. So yes, it is what it is. The lack of rear entertainment connectivity however is not acceptable for a family SUV.

CHP · 2026-06-27T21:44:42-0700

Consumption: 1.4 to 2.4 mi/kWh so far

Car really doesn’t like the heat, yesterday evening after leaving car exposed in the sun the battery fan went onto max (I at least assume so). Super noisy, like those street cleaning council trucks.

CHP · 2026-06-27T22:03:22-0700

Mood modes: More than just a gimmick. You can assign seating position to certain modes. That’s absolutely brilliant so I do not have to remember if I assigned sporty position to 1, 2 or 3

. It’s standard in UK.

CHP · 2026-06-27T22:10:36-0700

Widgets. There are 3 pages with different number and sizes of tiles. Assigning new functionality is as easy as it gets but I have no idea if you can realign or change size of tiles like for example on iPhone. Manual not very helpful.

Due to complexity of PMC and suboptimal manual a dedicated folder with threads for each main functionality group may be helpful @Administrator.

My Cayenne S EV finally arrived (first impressions, reviews, updates)

CHP

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Wivenhoe

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PetrK

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CHP

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Moheisen(FirstEV)

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CHP

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CHP

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Cayven Noir

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Wivenhoe

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