Porsche just gave its upcoming Cayenne Electric the most on-brand shakedown imaginable: a high-altitude run up Austria’s Großglockner High Alpine Road during the FAT Mankei season-closing event. It’s equal parts heritage flex and product tease, putting a camouflaged prototype on the same ribbon of tarmac Ferry Porsche used to test the very first 356.
The message is simple: even with batteries on board, a Porsche still has to earn its badge the old-fashioned way—on a road that fights back.
A Prototype, a Mountain, and 27 Hairpins
The exact car Porsche showed has already made the rounds—this is the same Cayenne Electric prototype that wowed Goodwood crowds and chopped more than four seconds off the historic Shelsley Walsh SUV record earlier this year. For the Großglockner run, development boss Michael Schätzle took the wheel, working a 14.5-kilometer stretch packed with about 27 hairpins up to the 2,571-meter Edelweißspitze.
The conditions were classic high Alps: changeable weather, steep grades, and surfaces that keep engineers honest. Porsche still uses this road as a proving ground for engines, brakes, and chassis tuning; the locale sits not far from the Porsche family’s home base in Zell am See.
If you’re wondering how an electric Cayenne fits into that tradition, Ferdinand “Ferdi” Porsche—who co-founded the FAT Mankei venue—offered the most concise review: despite its size, the prototype “feels extremely agile and light… it passed the Großglockner test.” Visitors got close-up time with the camouflaged SUV between runs outside the lodge, a fitting bookend to a summer that started with a packed season-opening meet in June.
Old Road, New Tricks
The Großglockner showcase also ties into a broader tech narrative. At IAA Mobility, Porsche demonstrated its upcoming wireless home charging system for the Cayenne Electric—an 11 kW “park-over-the-pad” setup aimed at making nightly top-ups as effortless as dropping a phone on a charger.
It’s a quality-of-life feature that won’t set lap records, but it could make EV ownership feel more Porsche: less hassle, more driving.
What’s Next
With development in its late stages, Porsche says the Cayenne Electric—internally dubbed E4—is tracking toward a world premiere at the end of 2025. Until then, expect more appearances that blend showmanship with shakedowns.
For a nameplate that helped define performance SUVs, returning to the brand’s favorite mountain road feels like the right kind of preview: quiet where it can be, loud where it matters.