It is enabled by default, so that – providing the battery is suitably charged – every journey can be started in all-electric fashion.

If the driver disables E-Power, the operating strategy switches to Hybrid mode. This is geared towards efficiency and alternates fully automatically between electric and hybrid driving with load point shifting, coasting, energy recuperation and boosting. As a basic principle in hybrid operation the six-cylinder engine is activated earlier in order to hold back the battery's available energy content for later phases of electric driving. Disabling the E-Power mode also keeps the high-voltage battery's existing charge level largely constant so that electric range is available for the next urban stage.

Pressing the Sport button enables Sport mode and thus the hybrid drive system's full performance potential. The boost – the sporty side of the Cayenne S E-Hybrid and Panamera S E-Hybrid – is then noticeable. As soon as the position of the accelerator pedal reaches 80 per cent, internal combustion engine and electric motor work together, pooling power output and torque for typical Porsche driving fun.

The E-Charge mode enables the high-voltage battery to be efficiently charged while driving. If desired, the full electric range is thus always available. The E-Charge mode switches the electric motor to generator function and produces via that an additional load, which causes the internal combustion engine to work within particularly efficient operating ranges.  When topping up the charge via the internal combustion engine, for example on long motorway runs, the Cayenne S E-Hybrid and Panamera S E-Hybrid thus obtain more energy from every drop of fuel, which then gets stored in the high-voltage battery and is available for later zero-emission journeys.

Through recuperation and storage in the high-voltage battery, the brake system recovers brake energy that is normally lost. Depending on how forcefully the driver pushes down on the brake pedal, the electric motor's generator function is first switched on up to the maximum possible load before the conventional brake then adds to the brake force.

The hybrid manager coordinates the interplay between internal combustion engine and electric motor with disengagement clutch and gearbox. Factors it takes into account include the condition of the high-voltage system, such as the temperature and charge level of the lithium-ion battery. This is permanently monitored by the battery management system, which communicates with the hybrid manager.