PORSCHE IS KEEPING KEYS AND START BUTTONS WHILE OTHER EVS DON’T

Electric cars don’t need a power button or a key, yet some have them. The 2026 Porsche Cayenne Electric is one of them.

And it won’t be the last. Porsches, regardless of powertrain, will always have a power button (or key) on the left side of the steering column, according to Cayenne electronics manager Dirk Assfalg. And key fobs won’t be going anywhere either.

In Leipzeg Germany Porsche technology spokesperson Jonas Bierschneider told The Drive “there’s no need” for the electric Cayenne‘s power button. But in an era where some Porsche customers are still asking for a metal key for their new car in 2025, which Porsche will not revert to, the idea of not having a power button in the Cayenne Electric wasn’t even a discussion.

The power button will never be used by anyone using a digital key with their smartphone, Bierschneider noted. 

The Cayenne Electric will unlock when the driver walks up to the car and automatically turn on. Once the brake pedal is depressed it’ll be ready to be put in gear. It’ll turn off when a customer gets out and walks away. This is the same way a Rivian or Tesla operates.

Porsche spokesperson Calvin Kim noted “there are still Porsche customers that still want us to have a key. They want us to have a physical key.” Kim went on to note “There are customers that don’t’ want us to have any wireless technology.” 

Kim said there are Porsche employees that own Taycans, and when they first bout the car they used the power button. “It’s just user behavior.”

There’s also a workshop advantage to having a power button, Kim noted as it provides the ability turn on and off cycling modules and stuff like that when performing calibrations, noting this is stuff an owner would never do.

The Cayenne Electric will come with a physical key fob like other Porsches, but it is a plastic electronic fob. Not a metal key like an ’80s 911.

Kim also tried to pitch the power button as something “from our motorsports heritage, cause our race cars have power buttons.”

 “Nope” was the response Assfalg provided when asked if there was even a discussion about not having a physical power button in the Cayenne Electric.

For the time being even the (modern) key seems safe and full control whether a Porsche is on or off won’t be going anywhere.

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2025-10-12T13:27:29Z