Porsche is updating and upgrading its big Cayenne SUV this year, tweaking the exterior and interior styling to draw more obvious line between the big 'un and the smaller, newer Macan. Aside from the aesthetic changes though, Porsche has been doing some serious tinkering under the Cayenne's skin and the upshot is this incredibly frugal new version that will debut at the Paris Motor Show this week.
It's the Cayenne E-Hybrid, and in spite of the fact that it has 416hp and a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine, it's one of the most fuel and tax efficient Porsches ever. That's thanks to a plug-in hybrid powertrain, related to the one found in the Porsche Panamera. Plug it in, charge it up, and you can go for around 30 kilometres on just the batteries, at a maximum speed of up to 130km/h. Porsche claims 3.4 litres per 100km fuel economy (that's 83mpg) and just 79g/km of CO2. In other words, it's as tax efficient as a Toyota Yaris Hybrid...
Needless to say though, it's still a Porsche, so it will do the 0-100km/h sprint in 5.4 seconds.
Anything else?
Porsche says the unveiling of the Cayenne E-Hybrid makes it the biggest maker of plug-in hybrids in the world. It now has a three-car line-up of plug-ins - this, the Panamera hybrid and the 918 Spyder hybrid supercar.