Porsche joins Tesla to stream TV to your passengers

Cayenne owners in 56 countries will be able to stream Disney+, Amazon Prime, live TV and more

Porsche Cayenne EV with streaming
(Image credit: Porsche)

The next generation of the Porsche Cayenne, the EV the legendary car maker is launching this month, won't just be a tech triumph beneath the body. It'll be pretty tasty inside too. That's because Porsche has teamed up with UK firm ScreenHits TV to deliver some of the best streaming services to Porsche passengers.

Although ScreenHits is a UK firm the feature will be available in 56 different countries. Depending on where you are – the available options will differ from territory to territory because of licensing issues – you'll be able to stream live TV broadcasts as well as big-name streamers such as Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video

Is in-car streaming safe?

Don't worry. You're not going to be dodging Chelsea tractors whose drivers are bingeing box sets on the school run. The driver doesn't get to stream anything when the vehicle is in motion, and the passenger screens are designed in such a way that the driver can't see them.

Porsche isn't the first car firm to do this – Teslas have had streaming TV since 2019 – and it won't be the last. Lots of money is being spent by car firms on in-car entertainment, because it's a place where we spend a lot of time – and it has particular potential in electric and self-driving cars. ScreenHits TV intends to recommend content for you to watch based on how long your EV needs to recharge, and the UK department of transport is considering making it legal for drivers of self-driving cars to watch movies on the motorway while the car does the driving. 

According to ScreenHits TV chief executive Rose Hulse, "The car will become the second biggest screen, outside the house. As more and more people are starting to charge their vehicles, they’re spending more time on the road. That’s where they want to watch their content.”

Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series. When she’s not scribbling, she’s the singer in Glaswegian rock band HAVR (havrmusic.com).