I got through a full tank of fuel in a couple of hours in a hybrid. The fun of flooring it with the extra BHP from the electrics was way too much!

I also found it very hard to stay in Prius mode - in fact I found it nigh on impossible and I did try!!

If you want economy it has to be the Tdi.

 

3.0 V6 TSI Hybrid V6 TSI Hybrid (US)[39][40]

2010–2014

2,995 cc (182.8 cu in) V6 supercharged

333 PS (245 kW; 328 hp) at 5500–6500

440 N⋅m (325 lb⋅ft) at 3000–5250

5.8

240 km/h (149 mph)

6 TDI BlueMotion Technology V6 TDI Clean Diesel Sport (US) (239 PS)

2010–2018

2,967 cc (181.1 cu in) V6 turbo

239 PS (176 kW; 236 hp) at 4000–4400

550 N⋅m (406 lb⋅ft) at 2000–2250

7.8

218 km/h (135 mph)

Comparison to my old geezer. Hybrid has more torque than my V8 (don't know at what rpm the 300 lb ft are available). Both can't touch the 3 liter TDI so:

4.2 V8

2002–2008

4,163 cc (254.0 cu in) V8

310 PS (228 kW; 306 bhp), 410 N⋅m (300 lbf⋅ft)

 

I considered a hybrid for a short time but the battery life scared me a bit. How good are the batteries after 5-10 years? How is the performance without the battery boost? Are you dragging around excess weight with old, bad batteries at some point? Those questions without answers factored into my decision to go diesel.

 

Did you cross shop the Cayenne Diesel? What generation Treg TDI did you get?

 

Because the batteries take up the space you dont get a spacesaver spare wheel in a hybrid.

Whilst some deride spacesavers I have used them and would prefer to have the option to get home or to the tyre company than be stuck on the side of the road waiting to be rescued by a third party.

 

You don't buy a hybrid Touareg for economy. You buy them because they tear ass and are cool.

 

Here: considering as alternative to (torque!) to diesel for towing, and fuel economy (my V8 truly SUCKS) as daily.

 

To be honest you won't get a whole lot better economy out of the hybrid. High Teens, low twenties is about it. I guess that's considerably better than where you are at now but is it really worth the premium that you were going to have to pay to get a hybrid these days? The hybrid is a very cool ride, very fast, very hard to find also. They were the most expensive Touareg when they came out during their period, touching over $80,000

 

The low/mid range torque for towing is also disireable. And twenty is exactly 100% better than 10. And high teens could be 50% better than what I have now. Not sure how much the premium really is over a plain jane V8 and it looks like its cheaper than a diesel (and a Cayenne Diesel as alternative to Treg diesel).

 

You'll probably get a lot more hybrid information and the hybrid part of the forum, I'm not sure how many of those guys come over here to the towing and off-roading portion but it sounds like you are onto something