Porsche is very thankful for the success of the Cayenne, the big SUV.
Not least the financial future of the company, but you can't keep building big petrol SUV's.
Especially in the current environment. It has to be cleaner, it has to be more economical...
To do that, you've got some options to choose from.
One of which is diesel, except that's quite a difficult topic at Volkswagen.
Another option is hybridisation, which Porsche already used on the previous generation Cayenne,
and today it's time to meet the second generation Cayenne e-Hybrid.
Where the previous Cayenne was available as a normal hybrid, and an e-Hybrid; a plug-in,
this is only available in the latter form. Because the Panamera is a plug-in hybrid as well,
you'd think it shares a lot of technology with this, but that's not the case actually.
This Cayenne is a truly different car. It's on a different platform,
it's got a whole other transmission, so no PDK-gearbox but an 8-speed fully automatic gearbox,
with a torque converter. It also has a different combustion engine,
because where the Panamera uses a biturbo 2.9-litre V6, there's a 3.0-litre V6 with only one turbo in the front of this Cayenne.
Still, it produces 340 horsepower and 450 Nm of torque. Behind that,
there's an electric motor producing 135 horsepower...
and 400 Nm of torque, so theoretically the system should produce 850 Nm of torque.
And that's possible, if it wasn't for the ZF-gearbox which isn't able to handle that amount,
so it's limited to a system torque of 700 Nm. Still, that's more than enough.
Anyway, it's a plug-in hybrid, so there's a 14,1 kWh battery pack in the back.
Nicely incorporated in the floor, so you'll still have the luggage space and space on the rear seat.
It can drive fully electric though. Porsche states that the NEDC-range is 44 km,
and I've tried it this morning. I didn't go onto the motorway, I drove calmly,
you can't really do any more than 30 km on a full charge, after that it becomes a normal hybrid.
However, hybrid doesn't just mean more economical at Porsche, they tend to use it to enlarge the performance figures.
You've got a couple of driving modes. e-Power, which is fully electric,
three kinds of hybrid, in which you can even choose what to do with the battery.
You can charge the battery, you can keep it at the same level,
and after that, you have two Sport-modes.
In the latter, the battery pack gets charged as quickly as possible,
so you've got enough charge, to use the electric motor to the fullest.
That gives you a system power of 462 horsepower, and with that,
even this 2300 kg SUV should have a pretty decent acceleration.
If you use all of those 462 hybrid horses, you wouldn't say you're in a car which weighs almost 2300 kg.
It doesn't suffer at all, and it's disgustingly quick.
But more than the speed itself, it's the refinement of the drivetrain which stands out the most.
In the Panamera, the double clutch-gearbox is always looking for ways...
to glue together the power of the electric motor...
and the combustion engine. That makes it feel like it's always searching.
In this Cayenne however, the combustion engine and electric engine are working perfectly as it is,
and every other imperfection disappears in the torque converter, so yeah...
You've got a little dial which shows you what happens with the electricity, and you've got a dial for the boost,
so you'll know if you can still use electric power. The car does a lot of things on the background,
and you keep that in mind, but other than that,
it produces 700 Nm of torque between 1.000 and 3.500 RPM, and that makes it quick without an effort.
It's smooth, even when the engine shuts down or restarts,
you know it's happening, but it isn't a nuisance.
And that's what makes this hybrid incredibly pleasant, and at the same time,
it's supposed to become a tad more economical. I do have to say,
it's not a very big step. You can only do 30 fully electric kilometres,
and depending on the power stations you use, it takes up two and a half to seven hours to fully charge it.
Those aren't groundbreaking numbers. It's a tad better than the previous Cayenne e-Hybrid,
but with the current position in technology, this just isn't groundbreaking.
Anyway, what you get has been packaged very well. It works incredibly smooth, the practicality isn't compromised,
it's quick, and even when you're just driving on electric power,
it's an incredibly pleasant drivetrain. It 'only' produces 135 horsepower,
which doesn't sound like a lot for a car of this size, so it's not incredibly quick,
but you do have an electric launch control button. Oh yeah.
If the battery pack is fully depleted, the car switches to a hybrid mode.
That gives you a boost gauge in front of you, on which you can see how long you can use the electric motor...
to support the combustion engine. If you keep it in Hybrid-mode,
the boost gauge goes down after a while. You'll reach a point in which you can't use the electricity anymore.
You'll be left with the combustion engine. If you switch to Sport or Sport +,
it becomes a tad more aggressive, so everything is aimed at recharging the battery pack.
That way, you'll always have maximum performance available.
Anyway, that does make the fuel consumption rise, because it's not meant for that.
A sporty driving style however, fits the Cayenne itself rather well.
We already know the platform, which originally comes from the Audi Q7,
and Porsche opened their box of tricks. You can get optional air suspension,
four wheel steering... If you tick all of the boxes,
you've got an incredibly capable SUV. Sportiness is a relative word with a big car like this,
but when it comes to sportiness in SUV's, this Cayenne does its job.
There's lots of grip, lots of traction, a lot of feedback, so you're involved in the drive,
and that makes for a car with very good steering.
So it's everything we like about the Cayenne, only with a hybrid drivetrain which reduces the costs.
That's because this is the cheapest Cayenne you can buy in the Netherlands.
It's just over €100.000, and that's a lot of money, but you get a lot of car in return.
It's an incredibly good car. The only thing that bothers me,
and that's not the fault of the Cayenne, but it feels like it's a layover.
Three years ago, on the IAA in Frankfurt,
Porsche showed us the future; the Mission-e.
We kind of all expected that would be the car we would be driving in 2018, but that's still work in progress,
and instead, we're driving a plug-in hybrid again.
Sure, it goes a little further in everything than its predecessor, but it isn't a groundbreaking car...
It's a pretty damn good one though.