Watch a Porsche Cayenne Electric Pace an AirplanePorscheAirplanes and automobiles occupy the same realm of motion for no more than a minute, usually. Even rarer is the occasion when a car is traveling side-by-side with an aircraft. In Porsche's latest test of the Cayenne Electric, both of these rules are shattered.This isn't your gimmicky plane-versus-car drag race, either. In a video released Wednesday, Porsche took the Cayenne Electric to Mojave Air and Space Port to test its high-speed stability while the Stratolaunch team performed a series of takeoffs and landings with its Roc aircraft. The Stratolaunch ROC is a testbed aircraft used by the hypersonic flight testing firm to launch rocket-powered aircraft, and Porsche wanted to see if its most powerful model ever could keep up.PorscheWith former Porsche factory driver Patrick Long at the wheel, the Cayenne Electric paced the Stratolaunch Roc through two takeoff runs, exceeding speeds of 160 mph. Then, Long paced the aircraft as it came in for landing, threading between its twin-fuselage setup. With 1139 horsepower on tap, the Cayenne Electric had no problem matching the Pratt & Whitney-powered aircraft all the way up to its rotation speed. Part of this coordinated testing stunt required the crew chiefs of the six-engined airplane, Shauntel Williams and John McKinney, to ride along inside the Porsche and maintain constant radio communication with the flight crew."I had no doubts about the power of the Cayenne, but I was a bit apprehensive regarding how reactive the car would be to inputs, especially at speed, " Long said. "Surprisingly, the landings were a lot harder to time just right. The plane is so big that you don't really have effective visual references for timing when to merge with the plane onto the runway. I'm grateful that we had the crew chiefs ride along and communicate directly with the flight crew so we wouldn't under- or over-shoot the plane."PorscheAn FAA coordinator was also on site for the test runs. Porsche said the Cayenne Electric kept up with the aircraft as expected and benefited from an aerodynamically quiet area between the two fuselages. Additionally, only 13 percent of the SUV's battery charge was used in the four flat runs. Regardless of energy capacity, mixing an experimental aircraft with a high-speed run in an electric SUV is the kind of stunt that gives us hope for the future.You Might Also LikeIf You Can Only Own One Car, Make It One of TheseThese Are the Most Popular Cars by State
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