ranlor79

Hello, need some hand holding......bought my first 911 last Feb and found this platform and thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and knowledge that's being shared. Guess it goes without saying that the 911 isn't bad either. Sometimes, I hate to admit that it's only a base Carrera but I'm happy as a clam. So why am I here in the Cayenne forum???? Well, the wife wants here own Porsche- I don't have the heart(maybe nads) to tell her that she doesn't need a 911and she wants an SUV. So we've been looking at a Cayenne.

I'm not here to ask if it's good price or things like that. I'm just wondering if mechanically/electronically it's worth it over a non-hybrid. This one has 6800mi so not too much going on there. I guess on deeper dive, I just don't fully understand the hybrid 'gimmick' so to speak. I don't mean to be too critical of the application but with only ~25mi range it seems an after thought. Correct me if I'm wrong but the regen from braking isn't enough to charge the battery in appreciable way to keep it going, right? Not to mention the added weight the battery adds. Does that make tire wear worse.

Well fella's, should I run away from a hybrid?

thanks

jayshi827

Either ICE or full electric for me. I am not a fan of hybrid. 25mi is close to being useless.

hitmonlee

Hybrid has its pros and cons. I think a better question to ask is whether your wife (and/or you) cares about those pros.

ranlor79

That’s what I’m looking for - what are the pros and cons

Lphiesmacks10

My wife has a 22 Ehybrid Coupe and she dailys it, mainly for her commute to work. She's able to make a round trip commute without using the ICE if she stays on local roads. The longest we've gone without filling the gas tank is 1,700 miles.
So it can be used as full EV for short trips to the grocery store, etc.
It is also a fun SUV to drive. Very good performance for a heavy SUV.

Hope that helps a bit.

BergGt3

It was made to bypass the London tax… however for US use if you have really short commutes then it will be electric but also gives you more quickness with the added hybrid over the base. I personally wouldn’t own one after the CPO warranty but I’m sure they are reliable….

Needsdecaf

What a ridiculous statement. You can get 30, even in the '23's and that's more than enough for like 70% of the population.

Nice! Our max is 1,577 on a tank.

Quite! Let's discuss...

OK, so how well do you know your driving? Do you do lots of short trips? Will your wife be good about plugging in every night? Is she a little mechanically inclined and ok with playing around with the various modes, or at least learning them? Can you charge at home? If the answer to the above is yes, then the hybrid might be for you.

Context: Our first Porsche was my wife's '14 Cayenne Diesel. She absolutely adored it, but it was getting old. She didn't really know how old it was getting until I finally talked her into getting the '23 Hybrid. Now she loves it and she wouldn't go back. Our diesel has done some long, long trips and it's been fabulous. But most of the driving was short running around, and that's not really good for the diesel in particular. Having lived with a Tesla for 4 years and having a very good grasp on electrification, I knew the PHEV would be perfect for her. And it has been. Why? Her daily commute is about 9 miles each way, local roads but about 3-4 miles of it is high speed highway. Usually there is enough traffic that she can do e-power the whole way and back (e-power top speed is not limited, only acceleration is). So most of the driving of the Cayenne is done in e-power. And unlike the first poster I quoted, who doesn't quite understand how the hybrid works, when you're out of "pure ev" range.....you're still driving a hybrid. It's not like the battery and motor are just along for the ride. There are plenty of non-plug in hybrids out there, and the Cayenne reverts to operating llike one of them. That means shutting down the engine while coasting or at a light, pulling off with gentle acceleration in electric mode, only firing the gas engine when you give it more juice, and all of your low speed maneuvering is electric. Even when you're "out of battery".

Net result is that we've had the car 10 months and put 8,300 miles on it. Of those....5,900 have been under electric power. Yes, really. 71% of our driving has been on electric power.

We do not live in a particularly urban area. The Woodlands is a suburb of Houston and it's compact, but has fast collector roads where the limit is 45 and the average travel speed is 60. Plus our highways are posted at 65, 70 and sometimes 75. So we're not just puttering around downtown. For us, the PHEV is PERFECT. I got the faster charger and we can fully top up the battery in a little over two hours. So on the weekends, we'll often recharge at least once after errands before we go out in the evening. Electricity is pretty cheap here too.

OK, cons. The biggest con I have is the braking. The low speed blended braking is....something you need to get used to. It can be a bit lumpy and unpredictable. Many people won't notice. My wife has started to pick up on it. It's annoying to her but not the end of the world....she gladly puts up with it for the trade-offs. The second con is that when doing a long, straight, flat highway run, you're only going to get 21-23 MPG. So several ticks lower than the gasser. But as I said, know your use case. Are you doing a lot of long highway drives? Hybrid probably not worth it.

I would shop the new BMW X5 50e. The old one sucked, but the new one now has battery, range and electric power (and combined power) plus charging speed to match the Cayenne. I have not driven, but my neighbor has one. Need to do so after the Thanksgiving break. It's a lot cheaper and quite nice...bit larger inside too.

But yeah, if you want the hybrid life, it's a good life. And it can still do all the Porsche things.....

https://rennlist.com/forums/cayenne-...a-porsche.html

daveo4porsche

what he said - Hybrids are great and not filling up more than once every 6-12 weeks is a joy.

ranlor79

Thank You! Needsdecaf

MaxLTV

I was a hybrid-skeptic but changed my mind after driving hybrid service loaners. Things that made a ton of sense to me:
1. It's effectively electric car in the city, maneuvering in parking garages, standing in traffic, etc - everywhere where a gasoline engine gives like 3 mpg. Electric motor thrives in this environment. And no annoying start-stop.
2. Faster pick-up on the highway. With turbo engines, there is inevitable lag when driving at low revs and low load, and on highway cruising when you add just a little bit of throttle, that lag is very noticeable, so you instinctively add more throttle, but then the gearbox decided to downshift, and there is too much torque. That reduces comfort and mileage. With an electric helper motor, you get what you need instantaneously with no lag, downshifting etc.
3. Added conveniences of an electric car - pre-heat/cool, power supply for camping (I charged ebikes while camping), leaving kids/pets in a climate-controlled car when they don't want to get out on a shopping stop and so on.
4. HOV lane sticker
5. No annoying start-stop - hybrid is much smoother there.
6. Weight in the back actually makes the car handle better, especially the V8 models, which are VERY nose-heavy in non-hybrid versions.

I was strongly leaning to ordering a hybrid for the next SUV, and by a lucky coincidence, the new Turbo is hybrid-only, which settled it for me.

ranlor79

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and help....so with a little luck and some negotiating skills, we will be bringing home a Cayenne Hybrid today...

daveo4porsche

we will need reports, specs and photos - good luck and congrats!

ThomasWShea

@ranlor79 yes, let us know if you get the 4% to 8% discount people speak of!

ThomasWShea

some e-hybrid cons to consider per this YouTube vid:

• 400kg heavier - the reviewer felt it didn't ride or handle as well. Not bad, but he felt there are better driving examples of the cayenne.
• Due to the regenerative braking the brake pedal feel is compromised - same with a lot of plug in hybrids - but the comment was that he felt it took him longer than usual to get used to the brake pedal in the e-hybrid cayenne. not great at low or high speeds for predicability. Not the end of the world but more of a comprise than the reviewer expected.

some of the other points you have already talked through yourself and have made your own conclusions on.

my opinion is there is no bad porsche - e-hybrid is going to be some give for some take. myself, i have the a base cayenne coupe i bought off the lot. it had most of the options i really wanted, and it didn't have a few. at the end of the day, it just drives so well, i don't really care that it isn't perfect. perfection for me would have required a longer wait and going with a cayenne coupe s and spending another 30 grand to get it exactly how i wanted AND have a V8.

philippe911

lucky US

I france hybrid us not a realy choice,due to CO2 law regulation and tax not hybrid is not evisageable

E​​​​​​ ​hybrid vs S near same price...............but ad 60 K$ TAX for S and no TAX for any hybrid........................;you understands esasely why in europe hybrid is a passion

(I have ordered S hybrid and it will be delevred for 15 december)