Despite the 2026 Porsche Cayenne Electric having 50% more screens than today’s gas-powered model, the EV still has buttons, toggles, and knobs. It’s going to stay that way.
In Leipzig, Germany Porsche Cayenne electronics manager Dirk Assfalg told The Drive that Porsches will “always” have certain buttons and knobs, including a volume knob.
The electric Cayenne features a 14.25-inch OLED touchscreen, which is curved, on the center of the dashboard. It’s a show piece and controls most of the vehicle functions including the direction of the air vents. But physical toggles for the fan speed and cabin temperature still exist along with a roller knob for the volume. These three things will not go away in future Porsches, according to Assfalg.
“We know from our customers, also coming from China, that there’s always a strong wish of having these buttons still in the car,” Assfalg said.
The decision is customer driven in a touchscreen-crazed market. “We have physical buttons for the things we want to know, or we want to have some physical feedback,” Assfalg said.
Beyond the toggles and volume knob are some physical buttons on the Cayenne Electric’s steering wheel. The round wheel looks reminiscent of other Porsche steering wheels with physical buttons and roller knobs that provide a satisfying click when engaged. Buttons and knobs here range from volume and voice assistant activation to phone and the ability to roll through menus or go back on the screen.
“We have some buttons called jokers,” said Assfalg. The joker buttons are the user selectable function buttons marked with a symbol. A choice button. The joker button is on both the steering wheel with another separate one on the instrument cluster.
When pressed on whether the steering wheel would always have physical buttons Assfalg said “always is a very strong word.”
The Porsche Taycan, which was the automaker’s first electric car, did not have physical buttons or knobs for any functions on the center console. Cabin temperature and fan speed along with audio volume were and still are controlled digitally via the touchscreen, though the steering wheel does have physical buttons and rollers like the Cayenne Electric.
Cayenne Electrics with available four-zone automatic climate control will have physical toggles for the temperature and fan speed in the back seat as well. Models without four-zone climate control feature buttons in the back for the heated second row.
There’s also one last important button: The power button, which is mounted to the left of the steering wheel. Assfalg said “nope” when asked if it was even a discussion whether there would be a physical power button. The reason? Porsches will always have one of those too.
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