txbdan

Hi all,

I'm shopping for a new do-all vehicle for us. We currently have a 2021 BMW X3 PHEV and we love the drivetrain, but we need something a little bigger and with more towing capacity. I'd be towing a 3000lb track car on an open trailer. I'd likely rent Uhaul trailers for a bit which are aluminum, but not light. We're now considering 2019-2020'ish Cayenne E-Hybrids, most like it'd be a CPO.

Questions:

1. Does anyone have direct experience towing this sort of load with an E-Hybrid?
2. From what I gather, the hitch and tow package isn't included with a hybrid. Can these be retrofitted with factor parts/kits? I once retrofitted PSE on a Cayman and the "kit" was excellent.
3. I'm having a hard time finding info on total load/weight limit? I assume it's less having the battery weight on board. What is the max typically?
4. What's the real world range in warm and cold weather?
5. How's reliability been over the years? We do plan to get a CPO at least.

Thanks!

i386_64

I retrofitted both PSE and electric tow bar when I bought my CPO 2019 Turbo S E-Hybrid a month ago. I haven't towed anything yet, but it seems like it's doable.

Load limits, for TSE, it's 3500 kg for SUV and 3000 kg for the Coupé. I think the difference comes from the suspension geometry (wider but shorter on Coupé), wheel sizing (more concave ETs on Coupé) and configuration of the air suspension (tighter on Coupé).

I didn't know this and I bought a Coupé, Porsche salesmen hadn't informed me about that, always stated SUV and Coupé have only visual variances. Luckily – I'm not gonna tow that much, but it's something you should be aware of.

Note: You'll need to have 'Preparation for tow bar' option to do the retrofit. It was standard on my trim level in the UK.

CanadianNorth

I have a 2019 Cayenne E-Hybrid and it tows very well. When ordered, we selected the factory ‘towing preparation’ which includes the 2 inch tow box and 7-pin connector. This is a $750 CAD option. Capacity is 3500 KG (or 7,700 lbs). I installed a Speedway aluminum, adjustable height hitch coupler and a Reese Echo wireless trailer brake controller. I’ve towed 7X14 enclosed trailers and an open 18’ aluminum flat bed trailer easily. I always tow in Sport mode - to avoid unnecessary strain on the E-Hybrid battery. Towing in Sport mode also allows me to use the shift paddles to shift manually - particularly under load. Brakes are more than adequate for trailering.

We await our 2024 Cayenne E-Hybrid and, just like the 2019, we selected the ‘tow preparation’ again.

Canadian North
2019 Cayenne E-Hybrid
2024 Cayenne E-Hybrid (on order)
2023 Audi e-tron GT

SHO220Z

It tows great. I have a 4500 LB 2018 Four Winns H210 on a dual axle trailer. It has a V8 engine, dual batteries, and a full pressurized water system on it.

I tow in Hybrid mode since the weight allows for a lot of regen when I am slowing down. I only two 2x a year for about 2 hours total each trip, but the car does great. I get a lot of snide remarks from certain people that can't believe I am doing this with a crossover and not something like an F-250, but oh well.....

Your questions:

1. Does anyone have direct experience towing this sort of load with an E-Hybrid

Yep. See above.

1. From what I gather, the hitch and tow package isn't included with a hybrid. Can these be retrofitted with factor parts/kits? I once retrofitted PSE on a Cayman and the "kit" was excellent.

From what I have seen the towing kit can be retrofitted but it's expensive, and may or may not work with the rear valence the car was equipped with.

1. I'm having a hard time finding info on total load/weight limit? I assume it's less having the battery weight on board. What is the max typically?

7,700 lbs, same as a normal Cayenne.

1. What's the real world range in warm and cold weather?

Towing or not? Towing the range is like 10 miles, but I don't recommend towing in EV mode. Unladen, the 2023 I have will do 30 miles in warm weather, more like 22-23 miles in cold weather. We charge at our house.

1. How's reliability been over the years? We do plan to get a CPO at least.

It's been great for the year we have had it. We had a lot of build quality issues when we ordered the car and it sat at the dealer for a LOOONG time, but they corrected all the issues and since then it's been great.

JustinL

I use a 2022 e-hybrid for that exact job. Everyday driver and tow rig and it is fantastic at both. Tows my setup confidently with great fuel economy. I tow in hybrid with cruise control and the computer sorts out the rest, regenerating during downhills and firing up the engine as needed. It's very stable and with trailer brakes stops really well.

txbdan

Thanks all.

For one of my questions above, it wasn't what's the tow rating (7700lbs), but the max payload weight that we can add to the vehicle which includes teh tongue weight. I wonder if that's reduced with the hybrid due to the battery's weight. Granted, it seems to do the job as evidenced above.

I need to dig into the trailer hitch retrofit. I've since found the factory instructions for installing one including the control module and adding a couple wires. What I want to confirm is if the hybrids have the adjacent wiring that would be required. Somewhere I read they don't, but I'm not sure. The "kit" seems to be about $100 and includes everything from Porsche the dealer would need to do the job. Just like the Cayman PSE "kit".

JustinL

The payload for my e-hybrid is 1344lbs.

craig001

I would say if you are ordering new just spec the tow package as an option. My 19 came with the tow package installed. Don't tow anything so I will leave the opinons on that to others. I will say it is easier and less expensive to find a Porsche with the options you want as opposed to trying to retrofit. The vehicle needs to be programmed for many of the options.Quick Reply

Imdakine1

We tow a 23’ Airstream with 2021 Audi Q8 and considering a 2024 Cayenne E-Hybrid. Seems like you've liked towing with your 2019 and getting the new 2024? Do you use WDH? What was is/will be your setup?