Porsche electrifies Paris with all-new Cayenne hybrid

Porsche is exploring the limits of hybrid technology in its Le Mans Prototype racer, which led the 24 Hours race for many laps.

Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid uses green indicators on its gauges to highlight its credentials: up to 36 km of emissions-free electric motoring. PHOTOS BY JASON K. ANG

PARIS, France—Porsche added a plug-in hybrid to its vaunted Cayenne SUV lineup at the Paris Motor Show. The Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid took the center stage as the company focuses on reducing emissions and improving fuel efficiency, as well as driving performance. No less than Volkswagen chair Ferdinand Piëch was in attendance at Mondial de l’Automobileas Porsche AG president and CEO Matthias Müller introduced the hybrid.

The Cayenne S E-Hybrid combines emissions-free electric motoring with the power and handling of Porsche’s premium SUV. The new Cayenne is a parallel, full-hybrid vehicle. Parallel means that the gasoline engine and electric motor can power the car independently or together, and being a full hybrid means it can run on electric power alone. The car features lithium-ion cells with a 75 ampere-hour capacity, or about 42 times that of an iPhone 6. That may not sound like much, but it’s enough to give the Cayenne an electric-only range of 18 to 36 kilometers, depending on driving style and topography. That means zero local emissions and improved efficiency, particularly when driving in the city. The E-Hybrid can even go up to 125 km per hour on electric power alone. Fuel mileage more than doubles, from the rated 12.2 km per liter of the old Cayenne S Hybrid to the 29.4 kpl of the new S E-Hybrid. Emissions drops to 79 grams/km, putting the car in the top “A” grade of the European environmental rating scheme. This puts it a notch higher over non-plug hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius.

Porsche has recently updated the Cayenne SUV inside and out, and now introduces a hybrid model.

Being a Porsche, the Cayenne S E-Hybrid not just designed for puttering about while smelling the daisies. Step on the accelerator enough to trigger the pressure-sensitive switching point, and the gasoline engine fires up. The supercharged 3-liter gasoline V6 and electric motor give a combined output of 416 horsepower and 590 Newton-meters. Utilizing all those horses and torques enables the Cayenne to go to 100 kph in 5.9 seconds, on to a top speed of 243 kph. Theoretical range is more than 2300 km on a single tank of fuel. Power is fed through an eight-speed Tiptronic automatic to all four wheels.

The Cayenne S E-Hybrid can be charged in under three hours using the car’s onboard charger, or in an hour-and-a-half with an available higher-power charger. The car also features a pressurized fuel tank, which ensures that evaporated fuel does not escape to the atmosphere. When refueling, the evaporated fuel is neutralized with an activated-carbon filter.

Three plug-in hybrids

Porsche AG president and CEO Matthias Müller unveils the company’s first plug-in hybrid SUV, the Cayenne S E-Hybrid at the Paris Motor Show.

The new Cayenne increases to three the number of plug-in hybrids that Porsche is offering. The Panamera S E-Hybrid was launched in 2013, with many of the key components now installed in the Cayenne. Then there’s the 918 Spyder hybrid supercar, which combines zero-emissions motoring capability with blistering performance. The 918 lapped the 20.6-km course in 6 minutes, 57 seconds, just under the 7-minute mark considered as the supercar standard. In the World Endurance Championship series, Porsche has also fielded a hybrid, the 919, which competes in the Le Mans Prototype 1 class.

The S E-Hybrid can be spotted via its acid-green brake calipers and badges. The trademark Porsche gauge cluster also features green needles. These join the other exterior changes in the facelifted Cayenne. The hood and front fascia have been revised, and the headlamps now feature four LED daytime running lights, a la 919 Le Mans racer. The taillights have also been revised to make the car look wider.

In an interview after the unveiling, Porsche CEO Muller said that the E-Hybrid will be rolled out in Asia by the end of this year, with a similar price structure to the Panamera’s. This implies a 25-percent price premium over the base Panamera.

Muller further said that depending on customer demand, they may even introduce a hybrid version of the 911 sports car. “We can imagine that,” he said. Ferdinand Porsche himself introduced a gasoline-electric hybrid prototype at the 1901 Paris Motor Show. More than 100 years later, the engineers at Porsche are still pushing the performance limits of the technology, as embodied in the new Cayenne S E-Hybrid.