In 2014 Porsche will update its Cayenne SUV with new styling details, new options and new technical features. The absolute highlight of this update is the addition of a new plug-in hybrid variant, or e-Hybrid, as Porsche refers o it.

It will be similar to the normal Cayenne Hybrid, but with more emphasize on the electric motor than the V6. With the e-Hybrid Porsche is after satisfying electric performance. They want the car to be more usable for more of the time using just electric power, thus reducing its emissions even further. So it will get a new electric motor with up to 100 horsepower output, located between the gas engine and the transmission.

Given the 330 horsepower of the V6 engine, the Cayenne e-Hybrid will have like 420 horsepower combined which is more than enough to offer a good Porsche-like drive. It will offer the performance of a V8 with fuel efficiency of a four-cylinder. That is, of course, when the whole system is working. In pure EV mode all you get is that 100 hp of the electric motor, which is why it’s only suitable for city driving.

This system is a plug-in hybrid, which obviously means you have to plug it in to charge the batteries that feed the motor. However Porsche is working on another system called e-Charge, which is very complicated, but essentially it utilizes the power of the onboard gas engine to do the charging.

Read more details @MotorTrend