2010 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid Review and Prices

The 2010 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid will be the company's first gas-electric hybrid..

Consumer Guide's Impressions of the 2010 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid

The first gas/electric Porsche will be a much cleaner, thriftier Cayenne-and maybe a sales booster for this cash-cow SUV. Porsche purists may moan, but Al Gore will approve.

What We Know About the 2010 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid

What do you do when your top-selling product is stigmatized as anti-social? Make it a responsible citizen. That's the rationale for the upcoming 2010 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid, the first gasoline/electric vehicle from the renowned German sports-car maker. It was supposed to be out by now, but engineering setbacks have delayed introduction to 2010. Still, better late than never. With a CO₂ emissions cap pending in Europe and tough new fuel economy standards coming to the U.S., Porsche needs a much cleaner, more fuel-efficient SUV to keep Cayenne sales rolling-and silence Cayenne critics.

Porsche's first SUV bowed in 2003, and it's been the company's top-seller ever since. Cayenne came about after Porsche nearly died of a sales meltdown in the early 1990s, an experience suggesting the need for a "hedge" vehicle against future downturns in sports-car demand. An SUV was chosen for that role because America is Porsche's biggest single market and Americans buy lots of SUVs. But although a truck struck many as an affront to Porsche tradition, the Cayenne has done what it was supposed to. In fact, were it not for the SUV, Porsche would not be in such splendid shape today: Record profits, sky-high stock price, still small and independent, but with enough monetary muscle to take over giant Volkswagen-and to keep building its sports cars.

As a pricey Porsche (currently $44,000-$123,600), the Cayenne sells in fairly small numbers-about 150,000 in the first five years, not much by big-league standards but huge for this company. To minimize upfront risk, Porsche split project costs with Audi Q7 and Touareg, respectively). But Porsche has a reputation to maintain, so the Cayenne had to be sports-car quick and roadable, which it is. Alas, those requirements also help make it a gas guzzler, and that looks bad now that global warming and energy use have become such major public concerns. Ironically, those issues have not hampered sales, which are actually racing ahead of 2006 levels. Nevertheless, Porsche can't afford to be seen as environmentally insensitive, and it needs an answer for the tougher new emissions and fuel-economy standards just around the bend.

That's the backstory. As for the vehicle itself, we can't tell you as much about it as we'd to like to, because Porsche is being coy with many details. But we can sketch the broad outlines based on company statements and reliable intelligence from industry moles