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Porsche debuted the Cayenne S Hybrid as a production concept at the LA Auto Show last November and has since been gearing up for their 2010 release date for sales worldwide.  The Cayenne is an SUV with good performance and poor economy.

The Cayenne is a PHEV capable of going up to 86mph in all-electric mode (52hp motor producing 221 foot pounds torque), but has a supercharged Audi 3 liter V6 that pumps out 333 horses and 324 feet of torque when the engine is on.  This gives it the impressive fuel mileage of 26mpg in Europe and a projected 24mpg in the U.S.  Note that by “impressive” I mean “crappy.”

I don’t personally have anything against SUVs.  I don’t think they’re the reason for our auto industry’s downfall.  I do, however, find it remarkable that these things can’t beat the 25-30mpg range.  Even as a PHEV!  What gives?

All that said, the Cayenne is a nice looking ride and has everything you expect from a great European automaker like Porsche.

Some interesting notes about the drive train in the Cayenne are worth looking at too.  I’m not sure that this is the best setup ever, but it’s certainly innovative.  Porsche is calling it the “parallel hybrid system” and it’s similar to other hybrids that use electric-assist or “dual mode” running where the motor and engine work together simultaneously.

On the Cayenne, this means that the two power plants supply torque together, in parallel, so that at lower RPMs the engine can put out lower torque (and thus save fuel) while the motor picks up the slack.  What’s unique here is that most similar systems are working this way 100% of the time, whereas the Cayenne can be either-or (parallel or individual) running on either all motor, all engine, or both simultaneously.

Porsche’s other concentration has been on highway speed functionality, which the Cayenne reportedly does very well.  Able to move at 86mph in all-electric, it beats out all the other PHEVs with all-electric capability in this regard.  For most drivers, however, this does little to improve miles per gallon since most drive at city speeds for the majority of their drive time.

Couple this with the extremely short distance the Cayenne can go all-electric (a whopping 1.2 miles) and you can see why this PHEV doesn’t get very impressive economy.

Porsche plans to use the same hybrid system in their upcoming hybrid Panamera touring sedan, which has not been given a release date yet.  The conventional gasoline version releases to the market this year.

All in all, the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid is nifty in some ways, but just generally fails to impress anyone who’s looking for anything more than an SUV with the “Porsche” name on it.

Source: Green Car Advisor