Porsche 944 1983 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Porsche Pajun to go all-electric as Tesla rival

Porsche has been rumored to be working on a smaller counterpart to the Panamera for nearly four years now, but we have yet to see any sign of the model dubbed Pajun coming to fruition beyond a digital rendering hidden in the background of another Porsche design. Apparently Stuttgart has been having trouble making the business case in an already crowded market segment. But that doesn't mean the project is completely off the table. According to the latest from Germany's own Auto Motor und Sport, Porsche is now planning to launch the so-called Pajun (shorthand for Panamera Junior just like the Macan project was previously called Cajun) purely as an electric vehicle. With an eye evidently fixed on how dedicated hybrids and EVs are gaining traction in the marketplace (to say nothing of actual tarmac), the electric Pajun - almost certain to carry a different name to the showroom – would be different enough to distinguish itself from existing four-doors of that size like the Mercedes E-Class, BMW 5 Series, Audi A6, et al. Word has it that Porsche believes that battery technologies will advance enough over the next four years to give its four-door EV a range of nearly 250 miles on a single charge. The model's arrival would be just the latest in a series of environmental concessions made by the company with the broadest range of plug-in hybrids on the market. Aside from the E-Hybrid versions of the Panamera and Cayenne, Porsche arguably led the charge (so to speak) towards hybrid hypercars with the 918 Spyder, is downsizing many of its engines and is turbocharging almost the entirety of the 911 range.

Tesla, Porsche and Genesis top Consumer Reports owner satisfaction survey

Tesla swept Consumer Reports' latest Ownership Satisfaction Survey results, notching the top spot among brands evaluated. Its Model S also netted the No. 1 spot among the top 10 most-satisfying cars. Porsche and Genesis, Hyundai's new luxury spinoff, rounded out the top three brands. The bottom of the rankings was anchored by Acura, while Mercedes-Benz notched the least-satisfying car in the survey with the GLA, proving that the results weren't equally kind to all luxury brands. Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, told USA Today those brands suffered by introducing cheaper vehicles. The scores, on a 100-point scale, reflect whether owners say the vehicles from model years 2015 through 2018 met their expectations and whether they would buy the same car again. They measure ratings in six categories: driving experience, comfort, value, styling, audio and climate systems (what, no cupholders?). Effectively, it gauges how much people liked the car they bought. Reliability is not considered. The Honda Ridgeline outscored competitors in the compact pickup segment by a wide margin, while the Ford F-350 was among the top 10-ranked vehicles in the survey, the first time in at least five years that a pickup made it into the top 10, Consumer Reports said. In the brand survey, Chrysler rose four places to No. 4 on strong customer satisfaction with the Pacifica minivan, while Hyundai tumbled 11 spots to No. 24 and Lexus fell eight places to 18th. Rounding out the top 10 most satisfying cars were the Porsche 911, Chevrolet Corvette, Lincoln Continental, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Toyota Prius, Tesla Model X SUV, Honda Odyssey minivan and Dodge Challenger. Not surprisingly, most of those cars, and indeed most of the high-ranking brands, are those with strong brand loyalty, fan-like followings and/or those that strike a strong emotional chord with buyers. The full brand rankings are below. Tesla (90) Porsche (85) Genesis (81) Chrysler (78) Audi (76) Mazda (76) Subaru (76) Toyota (76) Honda (75) Lincoln (75) Mini (73) Ram (73) Kia (72) Chevrolet (72) BMW (72) GMC (72) Ford (70) Lexus (70) Volvo (69) Dodge (68) Jeep (68) Mercedes-Benz (67) Volkswagen (67) Hyundai (67) Buick (66) Cadillac (64) Infiniti (60) Mitsubishi (58) Nissan (58) Acura (58) Related Video: Green Genesis Porsche Tesla Ownership satisfaction

$76,400 Porsche S E-Hybrid will debut in Paris

The 2015 Porsche Cayenne S E Hybrid will be an all-new model, one that adds a plug – and the required associated technological bits – to the currently available Cayenne S Hybrid. The most important of those bits is a 10.8-kWh lithium-ion battery, but Porsche's Calvin Kim told AutoblogGreen that the SUV's electric-only range is still pending certification, but Hybrid Cars says that Porsche is estimating it'll be somewhere between 11 and 22 miles, "depending on the style of driving and route topography." Other than the new battery, the electric motor has been upgraded to a 95 horsepower/70 kW unit (up from the 47-hp/34 kW motor in the Cayenne hybrid without a plug). The overall powertrain now puts out a total of 416 hp and can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds. Alongside the electric parts, there's a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 engine and an 8-speed automatic transmission. You can find all of the E-Hybrid's available specs here and stay tuned for more information on the new plug-in SUV when it makes its debut at the Paris Motor Show in early October. The SUV will go on sale in the US on November 1, 2014 with a starting MSRP of $76,400, plus a destination charge of $995. In a new press release (available below), Porsche is also proudly saying, once again, that it will be the world's only automaker offering three plug-in hybrid models, once the Cayenne S E-Hybrid hits the market. The others are the Panamera S E-Hybrid and the 918 Spyder. How long will this reign at the top last? World premiere of the Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid in Paris Leading the industry: Porsche offers three plug-in hybrid models Stuttgart/Atlanta. The new Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid celebrates its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show. It is the world's first luxury SUV to offer a plug-in hybrid drive, setting new standards in its segment. The Cayenne S E-Hybrid also makes Porsche the leading manufacturer of plug-in hybrid vehicles: Complementing the Panamera S E-Hybrid and the 918 Spyder, Porsche is the only manufacturer worldwide to offer three plug-in hybrids. In addition to the Cayenne S E-Hybrid, Porsche is presenting the other models that comprise the new generation of Cayenne including the Cayenne S, Cayenne Turbo, and Cayenne Diesel. Increased efficiency and performance, even more precise handling, a sharper design and a broadened array of standard equipment are its defining features.