Die hard ICE driver now utterly converted by Cayenne Hybrid
Discussion
Hi all,
I never actually thought I would go down the Hybrid or EV route until I was forced to but when my wife and I decided that her L405 Range Rover was about as annoying as we could bear we started the hunt for its replacement. After a few short hours (our requirements are quite specific so there were about 30 cars in the UK that fitted the bill) we were left with a selection of Range Rovers, X5's and Cayennes. However, one in particular stood out; a barely used late 2016 Cayenne Hybrid S. Now, my wife is the main driver of the 'big car' and I only use it at weekends when we're out together with our son or if i'm towing the race car to a circuit. One of the main issues we had with her RR was that it was always telling us that the battery was low and we needed to start the engine. An annoying message but when it is triggered it also turns off all the interior light functions and the soft close doors as well as disabling the car's pre-heat function from the keyfob. After many many trips back to the dealers there was no fix found and we were simply told we don't use it correctly. My wife's frequent 2 mile trips to our son's nursery or the gym were not sufficient for the car to recharge its battery. I don't quite understand why it never presented this issue in the first 2 years of ownership but LR were not interested so a change was settled upon.
I did some reading and quickly arrived at the conclusion that we had to have the Hybrid. It still had a petrol engine so would work like every other car but crucially it would a small but useful range of EV mode that would happily get my wife around Aberdeen's various attractions without even bothering the ICE into action. We had also previously specced a Cayenne Diesel S when we were in the market for the RR purchase and decided to go RR but had still be really impressed by the Cayenne as a brilliant SUV that drove more like a car.
We picked the Cayenne up in London and had a brilliant drive home to Aberdeen; nigh on doubling the mileage on the car!
I have had external power fitted in our drive to power christmas lights and for a trickle charger on the RR so this has been put immediately into use for the Cayenne as it comes with its own charger. The car gets a nightly charge of approx 3.5hrs and then we have approx 16 miles range which is perfect for us.
I have just ordered the Porsche charging dock case (a rather smart looking glazed unit that mounts to the wall) that will house the charger but leaves it removable for any off-site charging antics we get up to. We haven't yet braved a public charge point but will do at some stage. In fairness, we're never really parked anywhere long enough for the car to get a meaningful charge but we feel we should break that cherry at some point.
I have been keeping an eye on what the car is doing performance-wise for MPG etc and I remain impressed. The ICE really only fires into life at the weekend and we are getting about 36mpg average between town use during the week and then our weekends when we have headed down to Edinburgh or on much longer runs and the EV element is cancelled out. We haven't actually had the car long enough to have done a full tank's worth of driving in regular conditions at home as we've been very busy galavanting across Scotland but I would suspect we would see the average MPG's well into the 40's.
The Cayenne is no slouch either. Ours is well specced so in full Sport Plus mode (410ish bhp) it's a bit of a flying machine and it feels so much more car-like than the RR. I can't say I've noticed the additional weight of the battery in the rear footwell but it's early days and I've not had the car on some of my favourite roads without our son in the back! It's also worth saying that I did read a few reviews where the journo's commented that the EV to ICE switches can be clunky and bothersome. Maybe those were early models and Porsche have upgraded things in that department but I find the change between EV and ICE and back again entirely imperceptible. Its so smooth and with the 8 speed box it really is wonderfully relaxing car to drive.
So, how converted am I? Well my daily is a W205 C63 AMG which does 1.7 miles to the office and 1.7 miles back. The stop start never ever works as the car never gets to the conditions that it needs to do so. Whilst it is an absolute hoot to own and a very enjoyable car to blat about the Highlands in i'm clearly not really getting the chance to use it as I should given that i've done a paltry 9k miles in 28 months of ownership. Porsche have just launched the Panamera Sport Turismo and given how impressed I am with the Cayenne I have a feeling that the Turbo S Hybrid version will be on a future shopping list.....of course only once someone else has specced it well and taken the initial hit at they start at a mind boggling £144k
Anyway, if anyone wants some owner experiences of the Cayenne Hybrid S or has any advice to share then it would be good to hear.
Cheers
James
I never actually thought I would go down the Hybrid or EV route until I was forced to but when my wife and I decided that her L405 Range Rover was about as annoying as we could bear we started the hunt for its replacement. After a few short hours (our requirements are quite specific so there were about 30 cars in the UK that fitted the bill) we were left with a selection of Range Rovers, X5's and Cayennes. However, one in particular stood out; a barely used late 2016 Cayenne Hybrid S. Now, my wife is the main driver of the 'big car' and I only use it at weekends when we're out together with our son or if i'm towing the race car to a circuit. One of the main issues we had with her RR was that it was always telling us that the battery was low and we needed to start the engine. An annoying message but when it is triggered it also turns off all the interior light functions and the soft close doors as well as disabling the car's pre-heat function from the keyfob. After many many trips back to the dealers there was no fix found and we were simply told we don't use it correctly. My wife's frequent 2 mile trips to our son's nursery or the gym were not sufficient for the car to recharge its battery. I don't quite understand why it never presented this issue in the first 2 years of ownership but LR were not interested so a change was settled upon.
I did some reading and quickly arrived at the conclusion that we had to have the Hybrid. It still had a petrol engine so would work like every other car but crucially it would a small but useful range of EV mode that would happily get my wife around Aberdeen's various attractions without even bothering the ICE into action. We had also previously specced a Cayenne Diesel S when we were in the market for the RR purchase and decided to go RR but had still be really impressed by the Cayenne as a brilliant SUV that drove more like a car.
We picked the Cayenne up in London and had a brilliant drive home to Aberdeen; nigh on doubling the mileage on the car!
I have had external power fitted in our drive to power christmas lights and for a trickle charger on the RR so this has been put immediately into use for the Cayenne as it comes with its own charger. The car gets a nightly charge of approx 3.5hrs and then we have approx 16 miles range which is perfect for us.
I have just ordered the Porsche charging dock case (a rather smart looking glazed unit that mounts to the wall) that will house the charger but leaves it removable for any off-site charging antics we get up to. We haven't yet braved a public charge point but will do at some stage. In fairness, we're never really parked anywhere long enough for the car to get a meaningful charge but we feel we should break that cherry at some point.
I have been keeping an eye on what the car is doing performance-wise for MPG etc and I remain impressed. The ICE really only fires into life at the weekend and we are getting about 36mpg average between town use during the week and then our weekends when we have headed down to Edinburgh or on much longer runs and the EV element is cancelled out. We haven't actually had the car long enough to have done a full tank's worth of driving in regular conditions at home as we've been very busy galavanting across Scotland but I would suspect we would see the average MPG's well into the 40's.
The Cayenne is no slouch either. Ours is well specced so in full Sport Plus mode (410ish bhp) it's a bit of a flying machine and it feels so much more car-like than the RR. I can't say I've noticed the additional weight of the battery in the rear footwell but it's early days and I've not had the car on some of my favourite roads without our son in the back! It's also worth saying that I did read a few reviews where the journo's commented that the EV to ICE switches can be clunky and bothersome. Maybe those were early models and Porsche have upgraded things in that department but I find the change between EV and ICE and back again entirely imperceptible. Its so smooth and with the 8 speed box it really is wonderfully relaxing car to drive.
So, how converted am I? Well my daily is a W205 C63 AMG which does 1.7 miles to the office and 1.7 miles back. The stop start never ever works as the car never gets to the conditions that it needs to do so. Whilst it is an absolute hoot to own and a very enjoyable car to blat about the Highlands in i'm clearly not really getting the chance to use it as I should given that i've done a paltry 9k miles in 28 months of ownership. Porsche have just launched the Panamera Sport Turismo and given how impressed I am with the Cayenne I have a feeling that the Turbo S Hybrid version will be on a future shopping list.....of course only once someone else has specced it well and taken the initial hit at they start at a mind boggling £144k
Anyway, if anyone wants some owner experiences of the Cayenne Hybrid S or has any advice to share then it would be good to hear.
Cheers
James
raspy said:
That's great. Sounds like a fab vehicle.
Although, "W205 C63 AMG which does 1.7 miles to the office and 1.7 miles back" sounds like the engine never gets a chance to warm up, that short a commute can't be healthy for the engine?
Thanks. We're certainly loving it. Although, "W205 C63 AMG which does 1.7 miles to the office and 1.7 miles back" sounds like the engine never gets a chance to warm up, that short a commute can't be healthy for the engine?
In fairness to the Merc it's standstill traffic all the way home so it's just sitting at idle for 10 mins of a 15 min journey. it's hardly an exciting life that it leads presently. I've actually caught the bus twice in the last week. it's actually cheaper as i pay £7/day for parking too. In fact, why do i even have a car?! i'm just too lazy to walk!
Thanks for the comments folks.
Yes the white exterior wasn't our first choice but it's not offensive and i've just had it ceramic coated so it's really easy to keep clean.
The interior is what sold me the car. I love it. My wife wasn't so certain but the salesman kindly did a full video of the interior over facetime so she could get a better perspective of it and she was sold too. She absolutely loves it now that we have the car and it's a regular comment from friends getting in that it's nice environment to be in. We had black seats in the RR but ivory doors and headlining which felt ok but in comparison with this it's clear that some brightness was being sapped by the colours.
Yes the white exterior wasn't our first choice but it's not offensive and i've just had it ceramic coated so it's really easy to keep clean.
The interior is what sold me the car. I love it. My wife wasn't so certain but the salesman kindly did a full video of the interior over facetime so she could get a better perspective of it and she was sold too. She absolutely loves it now that we have the car and it's a regular comment from friends getting in that it's nice environment to be in. We had black seats in the RR but ivory doors and headlining which felt ok but in comparison with this it's clear that some brightness was being sapped by the colours.
Erm, it’s a great laugh, fun to drive, not a stinking diesel and a great spec of car. Oh and free road tax, £400/pa cheaper for insurance than the RR and during the week runs solely on elec power that costs us something like 30p per day.
I ask you what’s not to like? When I want the enjoyment of a Petrol engine I can push my foot a little harder and the ICE (supercharged V6 Petrol) kicks in, sounds nice and goes well.
So all round I feel it’s a fantastic choice for us. Granted it’s not for everyone but it suits us down to a tee.
Thank you.
I ask you what’s not to like? When I want the enjoyment of a Petrol engine I can push my foot a little harder and the ICE (supercharged V6 Petrol) kicks in, sounds nice and goes well.
So all round I feel it’s a fantastic choice for us. Granted it’s not for everyone but it suits us down to a tee.
Thank you.
Assuming I am understanding the 'what's the point' comment correctly, you could argue it is purely a cynical 'keep the numbers up' product so they can carry on making conventional ICE cars, but, based on the OPs experience, you could also argue its a damn fine compromise for someone not ready/willing/able to go the whole full-fat EV path. Can't say I see any issue with that at all, but then I suppose I am somewhat biased as I have a PHEV as well.
Love that interior too.
Love that interior too.
Not trying to be funny or anything but wouldn't such as a Ctek intelligent charger for the original Range Rover have been a much more immediate solution for keeping the battery up to spec? Even just once a week or probably less. Maybe you tried this and for some unfathomable reason to JLR that didn't work, eg a parasitic drain not identified.
Anyway you're happy with where you are now which is all that matters, but as a user of various JLR products and direct experience of how sensitive they are to battery charge and condition wondered what had been tried originally.
Anyway you're happy with where you are now which is all that matters, but as a user of various JLR products and direct experience of how sensitive they are to battery charge and condition wondered what had been tried originally.
FiF said:
Not trying to be funny or anything but wouldn't such as a Ctek intelligent charger for the original Range Rover have been a much more immediate solution for keeping the battery up to spec? Even just once a week or probably less. Maybe you tried this and for some unfathomable reason to JLR that didn't work, eg a parasitic drain not identified.
You'll never pass your man maths exam thinking like that!InitialDave said:
FiF said:
Not trying to be funny or anything but wouldn't such as a Ctek intelligent charger for the original Range Rover have been a much more immediate solution for keeping the battery up to spec? Even just once a week or probably less. Maybe you tried this and for some unfathomable reason to JLR that didn't work, eg a parasitic drain not identified.
You'll never pass your man maths exam thinking like that!
Great car!
I've had one for a day and liked it a lot: it's fast, the interior is just right, the adjustable suspension is comfy but planted.
Ultimately, we ended up choosing a Model X instead of the Cayenne because of two things: 1. in pure electric mode it only has 90 or 100hp, so it's a bit slow and 2. the display in the gauges is low-res and felt a bit out of place.
If we needed the towing capacity or couldn't live with a BEV, we would have loved the Cayenne. Enjoy it!
I've had one for a day and liked it a lot: it's fast, the interior is just right, the adjustable suspension is comfy but planted.
Ultimately, we ended up choosing a Model X instead of the Cayenne because of two things: 1. in pure electric mode it only has 90 or 100hp, so it's a bit slow and 2. the display in the gauges is low-res and felt a bit out of place.
If we needed the towing capacity or couldn't live with a BEV, we would have loved the Cayenne. Enjoy it!
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