Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid 2018 Review

The Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid is not my first engagement with a plug-in Porsche. But unlike the Panamera from three years ago, the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid on test will easily complete a 20km morning commute on battery power alone.

Over the first two days the Cayenne was religiously recharged at home and at work. Fuel consumption, according to the car's trip computer, was reading up to 20.1L/100km when the car was picked up from Porsche!

After driving the 20km commute home the first night, however, and recharging from a 10A outlet for four hours the average had dropped to just 3.0L/100km by the time the Porsche arrived at work the following morning.

This was due to running the Cayenne entirely in electric-only mode. The engine started briefly when I changed mode to Sport at one point, but 30 seconds of running made little difference over two hours of commuting to home and back to work the next morning.

With lights on and wipers operating intermittently, and despite the battery not being fully charged from the night before, the Cayenne reached work without calling upon the petrol V6 at any stage. It was a close-run thing, however.

A quick consult with Siri revealed that the distance remaining to reach work was 3.7km – with just 5km of range remaining. Unfortunately, the way was choked by heavy traffic and unsympathetic traffic lights. By the time the Cayenne pulled into the car park there literally wasn't enough charge left to cover one more kilometre.

The situation improved somewhat the following morning. After 3.5 hours of charging overnight the Cayenne's electric-only range was 34km, having started with a higher charge from the drive home the night before (recharged at work during the day).

By the time the Cayenne arrived at the workplace the range was down to 12km. So 22km of estimated charge to travel 19km. That's fair enough. The traffic was lighter than the day before too, thanks to Friday being POETS Day.

So for the first two weekdays, the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid went everywhere without resorting to fossil fuel power – and after previous experience with the Panamera and BMW's X5 plug-in, that's a sign of real progress.

After a 72km test run over the weekend – during which the petrol engine ran most of the time – the fuel consumption had risen to 6.3L/100km, but the battery's range remained at 37km from its recharge. The Cayenne ran in either E-Charge mode or Sport mode, according to need.

Supplemented by torque from the electric motor, the V6 delivered plenty of performance during the test – but at minimal cost to electric range for the couple of occasions the electric motor and the V6 were working together.

While the internal-combustion engine is plainly a V6 in character, it's also refined and sportier than the norm for a larger-displacement engine in a prestige, plug-in SUV. There are no pops and crackles on the overrun, but Porsche has found a way to tune the V6 for a subdued, thoroughbred note in its soundtrack.

The ZF eight-speed automatic is as smooth and capable as ever, and the shift paddles ensure the engine is operating in precisely the right gear when needed. They even provide extra 'engine' braking and brake-energy recovery when the Cayenne is operating in E-Power mode. Speaking of braking, the pedal provides good feedback and dependably strong braking that can also be finely modulated for soft stopping.

In Sport mode the Cayenne E-Hybrid is more than just competent in the twisty bits. It turns in promptly and disarms the driver with its precise steering. There's plenty of on-road grip and tidy handling considering the SUV's 2.3-tonne kerb weight; Porsche has found a way for the elephantine Cayenne to tap dance like Shirley Temple.

The ride comfort is a mixed bag. It's firm much of the time and across any number of different surfaces, but the Pirelli P-Zero tyres (up one inch from standard on optional 20-inch alloys) soak up the smaller impacts pretty well.

For whatever reason, the Cayenne E-Hybrid's body control varies significantly in different situations. Over speed humps the Porsche SUV lacks poise, but it's much better tackling longer-frequency bumps at higher speeds. The different weight distribution of the Cayenne E-Hybrid and the '+1' wheels appear to have some impact on the vehicle's ride properties.

The morning after the test session the commute to work commenced with an electric range of 37km. Trying different driving modes resulted in the 19km trip completed with 26km of range remaining and the long-term average fuel economy falling slightly from 6.3 to 6.2L/100km. That's a win... particularly in traffic that's so heavy it takes 50 minutes to travel 19km. It also highlights that my late night testing is no economy run.

Flicking between 'E-Charge' on the move to 'E-Power' downhill or slowing for traffic lights helped keep the range at around 30km for much of the trip, but E-Charge will keep the engine running when the car is stationary, which is not great for economy and the environment.

That night, a long slow haul out to Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs on the heavily clogged Monash Freeway was punctuated by selective use of the V6 while on the move, since the battery hadn't been recharged during the day. The EV range had dropped to 19km and fuel consumption had risen to 7.2L/100km.

Careful use of E-Charge mode on the way to work was brought undone by one of the staff using most of the remaining electric range while driving the car around to photograph the interior!

But after two hours of recharging, the range was back up to 18km – which still wasn't enough to get home on electric power alone. So it was back to judicious use of the E-Charge mode. Even so, the Cayenne's battery charge bottomed out a couple of kilometres away from home, leaving no alternative to finish the drive on petrol.

Other than the unnatural silence inside, the Cayenne E-Hybrid is much like any other variant in the line-up. The seats are softly-cushioned and well-shaped. There's adjustable two-stage lumbar adjust which also helps. Some may find the hip point a little high for easy access, but the Cayenne is a vehicle intended to go off-road on occasion, and it's designed accordingly.

From the driver's seat there's a commanding view, complemented by an all-round camera set-up.

An additional stalk for the cruise control, below the indicator stalk on the left, requires a little trial and error to use; and a key-like switch on the dash, rather than a button, is a little quirky.

Surprisingly, the Cayenne has auto headlights but not rain-sensing wipers – which seems like an oversight in a vehicle at this price.

Although there's a lot of buttons clustered just below the infotainment screen, all of them are labelled in text and easy to read. They're also redundant, with the various facilities also available through selection from the touch screen, and the drive modes can be chosen from the dial on the steering wheel. The swiping method to scroll in the infotainment screen will be unremarkable to anyone who has ever used a smartphone.

Rear-seat comfort is fine, with plenty of head and legroom, plus adjustable vents. The boot is restricted by the high loading floor and the big bag on the left side for the recharging gear. There's no spare tyre either. The battery pack sits under the boot floor, right over the top of the rear axle.

As usual with a press vehicle from Porsche, the Cayenne E-Hybrid came with a lot of options. The very effective LED matrix headlight system with dynamic (adaptive) lighting system earns a solid commendation, despite the asking price – $4380. A sunroof ($4490) could be left unticked on the order form, and the adaptive cruise control with autonomous emergency braking ($3790) seems expensive in a $135,600 SUV when small hatches from Japan come equipped with it as standard.

Porsche's previous generation of Panamera S e-Hybrid had to be gently cajoled to travel the 19km to work without resorting to its petrol engine. BMW's plug-in hybrid X5 couldn't even manage that. So the new Cayenne has notched up a small but significant milestone in that respect.

Operating at different times in electric-only ('E-Power') or E-Charge modes, the Cayenne's fuel consumption rose at one point as high as 7.2L/100km, but by the time it was handed back to Porsche the figure had dropped to 6.8L/100km. With more time left recharging during the week, the fuel consumption would have been a lot lower, as I discovered during the first two days of the trial.

The fact that the Porsche can be fun to drive and practical as well is a real achievement. Unlike some hybrids the Porsche can be very 'hands-on', or else set-and-forget. It's a genuine alternative to a diesel SUV of the same size, but without the CO2 emissions.

How much does the 2018 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid cost?
Price: $160,940 (As tested, with options worth $25,340, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 250kW/450Nm (V6), 100kW/400Nm (electric motor), 340kW (combined)
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 3.4L/100km (Euro 6/WLTP Combined)
CO2: 78g/km (Euro 6/WLTP Combined)
Safety rating: TBA