First Drive: Sailing in Stuttgart with Porsche's Cayenne S Hybrid

Chris Paukert — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:58:00 EST

Filed under: Hybrid, SUV, Europe, Green, Technology, Porsche, First Drives

Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid - Click above for high-res gallery

While charging along at 85 mph with a particularly poker-faced Porsche engineer riding shotgun, traffic begins to cluster on the horizon. Not willing to risk our seven-figure prototype, I gently roll off the accelerator, at which point a funny thing happens: Without warning, the tachometer needle dies, unceremoniously plunging to zero RPM. The supercharged, 3.0-liter V6 ahead of us has gone stone dead, yet our Porsche Cayenne continues to waft along unruffled. We are coasting along on the Autobahn, with only a modest bit of wind noise and tire roar as our soundtrack.

Just as quickly as it began to appear, Stuttgart's traffic thins, and after gliding along for perhaps 15 or 20 seconds -- losing remarkably little velocity -- I ease back onto the throttle, at which point the rev counter jumps back to life just as quickly as it had extinguished, and the Cayenne sashays back up to 95 mph before I slot in amongst slower traffic in the right lane. Beyond the tachometer's telltale drop and jump, there is exactly no indication that the engine momentarily packed it up just seconds before. My copilot, Dr. Michael Leiters, project manager for Porsche's Cayenne Hybrid, allows himself a brief smile.

Far from indicating a mechanical defect, we've just witnessed what our Deutsche companion refers to as "segeln" -- sailing -- a fuel saving maneuver that Porsche says other automakers have written off as impossible at roadway speeds without jolting disruptions. Yet beyond the tach needle's machinations, there has been no drama whatsoever: no untoward thwack in the back, no expensive-sounding noises, no head toss, no coffee spilled, just seamlessly reintroduced acceleration. The gas pedal simply called upon the engine again and the electric motor restarted it in a flawless, 300-millisecond passing of the power baton. Remarkable stuff.

Follow the jump for more.

Gallery: Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid

Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.

Continue reading First Drive: Sailing in Stuttgart with Porsche's Cayenne S Hybrid

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Toyota defends its defense of parallel hybrids

John Neff — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:02:00 EST

Filed under: Hybrid, Green, Chevrolet, GM, Toyota

Earlier this month, Toyota Executive Veep Kazuo Okamoto made news when he defended his company's pursuit of further developing its parallel hybrid system called the Hybrid Synergy Drive. He was specifically calling out GM's development of the first mass market series hybrid, the Chevy Volt. On Toyota's own Open Road Blog, Irv Miller, Group Vice President of Corporate Communications, came to the defense of his boss soon after. It was an editorial we missed at the time, but reading it this morning was an eye opener.

Miller makes a case for Toyota's support of parallel hybrids by saying that at this point the Volt is vaporware, while you can buy a Prius today. He notes that Volt engineers are only able to get about 10 miles of pure electric range from current lithium-ion batteries, far short of the 40 miles promised by GM. He also goes after the set up of a series hybrid, saying, "So - and we love this part - a series hybrid hauls around a gas engine that isn't available to directly propel the car."

There are no doubt engineers in this audience who will read Toyota's response and rip it to shreds, much like commenters have already done on the original post. We'll merely respond to two points, since we're not engineers. Toyota calling a series hybrid vaporware because there isn't one on the market today is bunk. We assume the Hybrid Synergy Drive was at one time in development, too. While there's certainly a chance the Volt may never happen (10% according to Bob Lutz), the fact that GM is already using the Volt in advertising and has been completely transparent with the car's development tells us that it will do whatever it takes to bring this car to market.

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