What is it?
This is, officially speaking, the most environmentally friendly Porsche SUV on sale. Which is a bit like saying “the least threatening nuclear warhead” or “the easiest to park aircraft carrier”. Nevertheless, that’s how the new Cayenne E-Hybrid fits into the range.
It’s been just over a decade since Porsche first toyed with hybridising its flagship SUV. Skip forward two generations and the official economy figure has more than doubled, thanks to the use of plug-in hybrid tech. Today’s petrol-electric Cayenne claims up to 88mpg depending on spec - a figure which of course depends on you keeping the battery juiced up wherever possible.
For the first-gen Cayenne, hybrid tech offered up a bit of a USP in the market of premium 4x4s. Now it’s anything but, with all the main competitors - Audi, Mercedes, BMW and Land Rover - offering some sort of plug-in offering.
But Porsche has had time to perfect the art for the third-generation. Ditching the old Cayenne S E-Hybrid’s supercharged V6 in favour of a turbocharged 3.0-litre lump mated to a 30% more powerful rear-mounted electric motor pushes up combined power from 410bhp to 456bhp, while torque is up 81lb ft. Nearly a full second has been shaved off the 0-62mph time as a result.
More performance is bolstered by better green credentials, with a thirty percent increase in battery capacity (up to 14.1kWh) taking the all-electric range up to 27 miles - achieved via a two-hour charge from a fast-charging wallbox.
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Another overweight box ticking exercise hits the roads
But it still handles better than the X5 or RRS. Not for me though, bring back the diesels...!
Benefits way beyond reduced BIK taxes
As someone who has run a Panamera 4 E-Hybrid for the last year, I can say from actual experience that there are considerable benefits for many folk from a Porsche PHEV, even those like me, who with a personally owned car, do not get any BIK tax pay back. I note that an article some time ago in one of our newspapers said PHEV vehicles are rarely plugged in and only bought for BIK reduction. That is complete rubbish from what other Panamera (and other PHEV) owners tell me and my own experience. Many of them have a charger at their office as well as at home (like me) and plug them in to charge at least once a day and often twice. As I result, I now have to put in petrol less than once a month instead of three times or more with my previous 911 Turbo. That is a significant saving in expense and CO2.
It is basically a tax fiddle
It does not stack up financially to the private buyer,nor the drivability, just a tax dodge to justify an overweight lump, much prefer the petrol one . For a Company owner then get the cheapest ev and pay little tax for running about in and then get a jolly good v8 petrol and claim mileage as it is a PRIVATE CAR AND NO COMPANY TAX.