Fast And Frugal

Porsche’s new Cayenne E-Hybrid provides more oomph and a longer emission-free range than its predecessor.

- Shreejit Changaroth

THE world’s most prolific sports-car maker has launched another variant of its large third-generation SUV and it is called the Cayenne E-Hybrid.

An electric motor in the drive train gives a useful boost to the forced-induction petrol engine, very much like how the superseded Cayenne S E-Hybrid was set up, but there are plenty of changes made to the new model.

If you were expecting the same drive train as the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid, you might be a little disappointed. For that, you will have to wait for a Cayenne Hybrid with an “S” in its badge. Right now, what we have is the 3-litre V6 coupled to an electric motor and 8-speed Tiptronic transmission.

Still, Porsche is adamant that this plug-in hybrid Cayenne is a performance-focused vehicle which has an added bonus of delivering low fuel-consumption and exhaust-emission numbers.

Arguments still rage on as to whether this category of passenger vehicles need to be performance-oriented at all, but the fact remains that the demand for such SUVs continues unabated.

Acid green brake callipers in all wheels distinguish the hybrid from other Cayenne versions. Otherwise, the new SUV has the same evolved rather than radically altered styling, of which the main element that sets it apart from the last two generations are the slim rear lights linked by a strip running across the width of the tailgate.

It is the inside that has gone through a radical restyling – it’s more luxurious now and exquisitely presented.

The speedometer and centrally mounted (for the driver) revcounter are both still analogue instruments, but everything else is presented in high-definition electronic graphics, with a 12-inch colour touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard.