Porsche Cayenne – Back to Basics

Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid – €114,000

It just depends on how you look at it, but ‘glass half full’ types will happily note that the Cayenne E-Hybrid is the cheapest version in the Netherlands. This plug-in hybrid monster with 470 hp is therefore cheaper than the regular, non-plug-in hybrid Cayenne, which has 353 hp and which is actually considerably less fast. That ‘technical basic version’ costs us at least €150,200, while you can ‘drive’ a Cayenne E-Hybrid for 114 grand. This is probably the top seller of the series, together with the even faster S E-Hybrid.

The fact that a regular Cayenne costs 93 grand in Germany and you still pay less for a plug-in (€107,000), we won’t let that spoil the party today. Those who do not want to spend a cent more than the exactly €114,000 that a basic Cayenne on yellow plates costs, can choose from black or white for the body color. Uni-lacquer, that is. A chrome window frame is standard and, especially with a black body, it still adds some chic to this expensive ‘knakenbak’. 20-inch wheels are standard and we are talking about other ones than the ‘Cayenne Design’ wheels that are standard on the non-plug version. At Porsche you pay extra for a color brand logo on your wheel hubs, as a kind of ultimate proof of the fact that Porsche really charges extra money for everything. By default, the logo here is simple black and white.

‘Acid green’

All the more remarkable that it is possible to personalize a Cayenne without spending a single euro. You can choose, completely free of charge, to omit the type plate or to have type plates and brake calipers in ‘Acid green’, a fluorescent shade that more or less belongs to Porsche’s hybrid models. These green accents used to be standard and you could have them removed at no extra cost, but now it is the other way around. You can bet that almost no one will opt for it, so we can still drive it in a nice and exclusive way ‘for free’.

Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid with brake calipers in ‘Acid green’. That costs nothing extra!

Free compass

We are done even faster in the interior than on the outside: black leather is the only ‘free’ choice here. The standard seats are so-called comfort seats, which are electrically adjustable 8 ways and have a memory position. There are also 14-way adjustable comfort seats and adaptive sports seats, but you pay a lot extra for those. Decorative strips appear to be made of piano lacquer and plastic sprayed in silver, but there are of course countless other options available at an additional cost. The headliner is black as standard and a panoramic roof is of course conspicuous by its absence today. What is standard on the plug-in is the ‘Sport Chrono package’, which includes a rotary knob on the steering wheel for the driving modes and a striking ‘clock’ on the dashboard. Once again we can personalize for free, because Porsche replaces that ‘sub second clock’ with a compass for exactly 0 euros. The choice is yours!

Matrix

Then the actual equipment. In short: it leaves much to be desired. Of course, even in this form a Cayenne is no punishment. However, it probably drives clearly differently than the copies that we as the press are presented with, because for that you really have to invest several thousand euros in air suspension (€2,389) and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (€3,457). Keyless entry is not standard (€1,093) and that also applies to adaptive cruise control (€1,483!) and actually any serious form of driving assistance. Is it completely resolved then? Not that. Fortunately, heated seats in the front are standard, as is navigation, a wireless phone charger, an audio system with ten speakers and dual-zone climate control. As a highlight of the standard equipment, we opt for the matrix LED headlights. The Cayenne therefore automatically steers around the vehicles in front as standard, although a more advanced version is of course also available. Cost? €2,381, unless you opt for the tinted variant of €2,877. Believe us: what you save on BPM is easily spent on options.