Mystery Porsche Cayenne ICE Prototype Spied Testing, Raises More Questions Than Answers

To answer that question, we need some background and outlook. Even though it rolled out during a time when Porsche was in financial difficulty, the Cayenne quickly became the German automaker's best-selling vehicle. No fewer than 87,553 units were sold last year, whereas the Macan accounted for 87,355 out of a total of 320,221 deliveries.

By 2030, the Zuffenhausen-based automaker expects the share of all-new vehicle sales with electric drive to be more than 80 percent. Considering that the 911 accounted for 15 percent of deliveries in 2023, that means the Neunelfer will soldier on into the next decade as Porsche's sole internal combustion vehicle. This, in turn, implies that the internal combustion Cayenne will be discontinued by the end of the current decade.

However, the rather ambitious target of 80 percent electric vehicle sales by 2030 may be wishful thinking. In addition to EV demand slowing down in the United States and Europe, the Chinese EV industry is also facing a slowdown. We also have to remember that European lawmakers have recently passed watered-down Euro 7 emissions rules after plenty of backlash from the automotive industry.

Given the aforementioned, switching to an EV-heavy lineup by 2030 wouldn't make sense for a legacy automaker such as Porsche. We also have to remember that Audi is working on a new generation of the Q7, which is joined at the hip to the Cayenne on the Volkswagen Group's MLB Evo platform.

Whatever the black-painted Cayenne prototype may preview, the humongous front air intakes and quad-piped exhaust system indicate internal combustion. This fellow clearly isn't the much-anticipated Cayenne EV, which is expected to emerge in the latter half of 2025 or early 2026. In addition to the Cayenne EV, the German automaker is also working on a large sport utility vehicle with seating for seven peeps.

Porsche dubs the family-sized utility vehicle K1, and available information suggests the Premium Platform Electric of the Macan EV and Cayenne EV rather than the Volkswagen Group's upcoming Scalable Systems Platform. Turning our attention back to the mystery prototype, the exhaust pipe design is akin to that of the TT V8-powered S.

There is no charging port door whatsoever visible on this fellow, indicating a purely internal combustion setup rather than a plug-in hybrid. Porsche could very well be testing a new version of the Cayenne, or – better said – Cayenne Coupe.

For the time being, the most exciting Cayenne there is the 729-hp Cayenne Turbo E-Hybrid. Its plug-in hybrid powertrain will be shared with the Lamborghini Urus PHEV, which is due later this year as a 2025 model. It will replace both the Urus S and Urus Performance, which pack 657 hp.