Is This the Famous Upcoming K1 'Super-Porsche' or Something Else Entirely?

Update: We've edited the article to reflect the possibility that this could be something different from the K1 "super-Porsche" we initially thought it was. The most likely suspect is the upcoming Cayenne EV, which is still in early development. Given that the K1 is based on the SSP architecture, which has been delayed by at least two years, it's unlikely that a prototype has been tested already.

If you thought the era of gargantuan, ever-increasing luxury SUVs would end just because electric vehicles are supposed to be the pinnacle of efficiency, you were wrong. There can be no better counterexample than Porsche's plans to build an even bigger SUV than the Cayenne, codenamed K1. In 2002, when the Zuffenhausen sportscar maker launched the Cayenne, the hell froze over. Nobody had a dinosaur with a Porsche badge on their bingo card. Yet, Porsche turned it into its most successful story, and now it's back for more.

Plans for a three-row SUV positioned above the Cayenne were first unveiled in 2021, with a release tentatively scheduled by the middle of this decade. According to dealers invited to an event to see the plans, the Cayenne-topping SUV would be related to Audi's Artemis Project, and the design sketches looked a lot like the Audi Urban Sphere prototype. In July 2022, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume confirmed the upcoming all-electric SUV, codenamed K1.

Since then, plans have changed a little. Software problems have put Volkswagen's subsidiary Cariad under the microscope, and the Group's CEO, Herbert Diess, was forced to resign. Although the new Group CEO is now Porsche CEO Oliver Blume, he wasn't very convinced about the path to electrification his predecessor imagined. The SSP architecture was put on hold, and a new EV-dedicated factory was canceled. It's unclear if the Porsche K1 is still on track for a 2026 release, although the project is still live.

Our photographers might have caught the first prototype of the upcoming Porsche SUV testing in thick cladding. Despite the camouflage panels, you can clearly see that this looks like no other Porsche, with an unusually long wheelbase and a low roofline. It also surprises us that it seems so advanced for a first appearance, with what appears to be production headlights and taillights, or at least different from all current Porsche models.

Although people described the design they saw in 2021 as "part sedan, part crossover," this Porsche prototype looks more like a conventional SUV. This is why it could also be something else entirely, with the upcoming Cayenne EV as the prime suspect. Our photographers likened it in proportions and size to the Range Rover EV prototype they snapped last month. The Porsche K1 is expected to launch no earlier than 2027 from Porsche's plant in Leipzig, Germany, where the Panamera and Macan are built.