Electric Avenue

Quick. Do you have friends in high places at Kenya Power? Do you, at the very least, have an electrician buddy? Call him right now. Revive your high school friendship with that girl who became an electric engineer. Because electricity is the future. Electricity is stupendously quick. And remarkably comfortable. And can overtake a line of lorries with nary a second thought.

Introduce her to a man named Roy. Not because Roy is not married – he happily is. But because Roy can speak to a man named Manvir. And Manvir has the keys to a car you really, really want to get your hands on. One with green brake callipers and green-accented dials. Roy can be your best friend. Because Roy can get you a drive in the new Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid.

Let’s start at the beginning. Whenever I have a bit of time and a bit of inclination, I like going down to Mombasa Road to see what the Porsche Centre has brought in for the enthusiastic punter. Not that I intend to buy one yet (unless my boss is reading this and sees it fit to give me a 300% salary increase for loyal and dedicated service).

Porsches are the ultimate enthusiasts’ cars, and have been a schoolboy dream since I was, well, a schoolboy. In those days, Porsche had only one model, the two-door 911, but financial difficulties and the need for survival saw it launch the Cayenne, a five-door SUV, in 2002.  Devotees were horrified – afraid that the brand’s sporting DNA would be diluted by the need to make a bloated four-wheel-drive. They needed not have worried. The Cayenne not only saved Porsche’s financial future, but has also lost none of Porsche’s sportiness.

So I visited Roy Kyalo, the Porsche Centre Nairobi’s Sales Manager. He did have a 911 on the showroom floor, but that was not why he was in so excited. He rushed me to the workshop, where what looked like a normal fourth-generation Cayenne was parked. However, this one had acid-green brake callipers, and, when you opened the fuel flap, what greeted you was an electric socket. This was the Cayenne S E-Hybrid. And then came the words that any schoolboy (or schoolboy-at-heart) is dying to hear – ‘Do you want to drive it?’ All it needed was for me to say yes, and convince Manvir, the guy who brought the Porsche dealership to Kenya, and who owns this particular example, to give up the keys to the car.

And so I found myself in the company of Dimitris Karakoulas, the company’s General Manager, looking at the strange sight of a car plugged into the mains.

The startup process is eerie. Since it has keyless entry-and-go, as long as you have the keys in your pocket and you’re on board, all you need to do is turn the ignition on. Ignition, however, doesn’t give you the satisfying growl of a powerful engine, or even the meek whine of a powerplant with green pretensions. What greets you is…silence. You actually have to look at the dials to know that the vehicle is on and ready to go. It even disengages the parking brake for you as long as your seatbelt is fastened. You drive off as if you’re piloting a golf cart.

The car has two power plants – a traditional 3-litre V6 petrol engine up front, and a lithium-ion battery (a sibling to the one you find in your mobile phone or laptop computer), which is what makes this car so interesting. The electric engine is good for almost 30 kilometres, meaning that, depending on the distance between your home and the office, you can drive all week without using a single drop of petrol (this is where your KPLC buddy comes in – to make sure that the lights are always on in your house). The electric battery is powered up in three different ways. It can be plugged into your mains socket, although it will take many hours to get it up to full charge. You can also install industrial-type three-phase power, which will fill it up a lot faster when this is mated to a charging dock, available from Porsche. The battery is also charged by the petrol engine, depending on driving conditions and the mode you choose. The electric motor can also be charged when the car is under braking conditions, through a process known as regenerative braking, although this does lead to the brakes gripping harder than usual, which takes quite some getting used to.

The combination of electric and petrol engine is quite remarkable, as we found out on a jaunt down beyond Athi River. You can pootle along at 100 kilometres an hour with the tachometer firmly at zero, and the only sound to be heard that of wind noise and a slight tyre roar. The electric drive will take care of most driving and overtaking manoeuvres (it’s that competent), but it is when the V6 comes to life that the Porsche comes into its own. It will out-accelerate almost anything on Kenyan roads, and with the paddle-shifting 8-speed gearbox (which can also be left on full automatic mode), it will dispatch any driving tasks with aplomb.

The chassis and suspension are so able that you will forget that you are in a tall SUV. While many SUVs have terrible road manners, wallowing and shuddering whenever they encounter a rough road, the Cayenne is as stiff and steady as can be, a very impressive feat (albeit one that can tempt you to doing unholy speeds – so stable is the car).

There are different drive modes – E-power, which is electric-only driving at speeds up to almost 130 kph; E-charge, which will use the petrol powerplant to charge the battery, and Sport mode, which is full on Porsche banzai mode. There are graphs available to show you where power is coming from and going, and others to show you how electric (or green) you have been in your driving. You’re free to (as I did) dub that last one the guilt-meter.

So is this the car for you? It is a joy to drive, that’s for sure, and the badge is one you’ll show off with pride. It does have some drawbacks. The back seat is only good for two people, as the third passenger will be on an uncomfortable perch, which wouldn’t do for long distances. There isn’t a seven-seat Porsche Cayenne, meaning that those with large families may bypass this as their choice of car. The electric motor will convince you, though. You’re buying a Cayenne S, with all its sporting credentials, with the ability to ignore your petrol station forecourt for weeks on end.

If you don’t believe me, go on over to the Porsche Centre on Mombasa Road. Convince Roy and Manvir to hand over the keys. It would help if you told them I sent you. Or just handed over a cheque for $124,000.

Also published in the Business Daily on 22 January 2016 at http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Electric-Porsche-comes-to-Kenya/-/1248928/3043088/-/item/0/-/mpwn1h/-/index.html