arfusa

New member here. Purchased 2022 Cayenne E-Hybrid last year, with factory installed tow package, and just got it set up to tow our 27FB Flying Cloud Airstream trailer. I previously towed (over 50K miles) with my 2015 Audi Q5 TDI, but alas no more new diesels, so I opted for the Cayenne E-Hybrid to get the extra torque from the electric motor. The trailer fully loaded with two 30 gallon propane tanks and 40 gallons of water is ~7000lbs and the tongue weight is ~600lbs. I removed the trailer spare tire and replaced the lead acid batteries with lithium ion batteries to reduce both overall and tongue weight.


For those interested, here is my hitch set up:

• EAZ-Lift Elite Weight Distribution Hitch Kit - 1000lb WD bars and dual anti-way bars. Check out the video under Towing Tips on CanAm Airstream's website on how to set up and dial the hitch mount and weight distribution.
  
• Drilled new hitch pin hole to move the hitch ball closer to the rear axle. Improves towing performance but cannot open hatch while hitched.
  
• Tekonsha P2 brake controller - wired into factory harness in driver footwell and mounted to left of airbag under driver side of dash.
  
• I purchased the 7-pin bypass adapter but have not needed it (yet).
  

Took Cayenne and Airstream for a test drive over three passes here in Colorado (the Copper Triangle for you road bike fans) and the setup towed beautifully, even with some high winds. Got 15 mpg using about 1/2 of the battery charge. This was at an average elevation of 9500'.


MY QUESTIONS for you experienced E-Hybrid owners, particularly those who tow:

• How do I activate BOTH the gas and electric motors simultaneously? Will Sport+ do this automatically? Will the Boost button do this automatically regardless of mode I am in?
  
• How do I most quickly recharge the battery while driving? Sport+? Hybrid E-Charge mode?
  

My intention on longer trips is to save the battery for when I have to go over passes, or pass tractor trailers that are going even slower than me, then recharge before I go over another pass.


I welcome any and all experience shares. And I am happy share more info on my Airstream towing experiences.

sand8

Yes, Sport+ will do everything for you. Also, you can use the boost button in Sport+ mode if you need to.

JustinL

Throttle pedal will get you both electric and gas as long as the engine is running. I find the boost button is very aggressive and I don't use it very much at all, but I also live in the flat lands for my towing. In hybrid auto mode, the battery slowly drains over the drive, but the fuel economy is fantastic especially with cruise control on as it will maintain speed on descents by sucking energy into the battery. The car always stores some energy for when you need it even when the battery reads zero, so you shouldn't have too much to worry about in terms of performance. I think it will aggressively recharge the battery in those lower states of charge when it has the opportunity. If you know you're going to hit a lot of up hills with not as much opportunity for it to charge, then use the e-charge and e-hold features (sub categories of hybrid auto) beforehand to hit your target state of charge. Similarly, you want to have some space in the battery to dump energy into on long descents.