Porsche's first plug-in will debut in Shanghai.
It’s still a benchmark brand when it comes to sports cars but Porsche has shown an increasing readiness to defy expectations, whether it’s launching the Cayenne SUV, the 4-door Panamera or – just a few weeks from now – its first plug-in hybrid.
While the 918 hybrid supercar is still nearly a half year away from production, Porsche will have other plug-in news for the upcoming Shanghai Motor Show – the new Panamera S E-Hybrid.
Largely based on the basic gas-electric drivetrain first introduced on the Porsche Panamera S Hybrid two years ago, the plug-in version will reportedly deliver “greater than 20 miles” of pure electric driving range and speeds of up to 84 mph before its twin-turbocharged V-6 kicks in.
The Panamera plug-in will yield more than 20 miles on battery power at speeds up to 84 mph.
That 3.0-liter six replaces the naturally aspirated 4.8-liter V-8 found in the S and 4S models. Porsche also substitutes a new 9.4-kWh lithium-ion battery pack for the more dated 1.7-kWh nickel-metal hydride battery found in the Panamera S Hybrid.
The pack reportedly can recharge in as little as 2.5-hours if you’ve got a 240-volt charger handy.
Despite the more modest displacement, this is no fuel-sipping stone pony, Porsche pronounces. Thanks to an electric boost mode – think battery supercharger – the Panamera S E-Hybrid now makes 420 horsepower and 383 pound-feet, respectively a 20-hp and 15 lb-ft boost over the V-8 package.
“An electric boost function helps in instances where maximum acceleration is desired,” Porsche explains, “when the electric motor works in tandem with the combustion engine during acceleration. Electric boost is also available when a kick-down switch in the throttle pedal is activated by the driver during acceleration.”
At 95 hp, the plug-in hybrid’s electric motor slightly more than double’s the output of the earlier S Hybrid package. And it helps to recall that electric motors deliver maximum torque as soon as they start spinning. That means a very Porsche-like 5.2-second launch from 0 to 60 mph, with a rated top speed of 167 mph.
Those may be great performance numbers but Porsche wants to give buyers the best of both worlds and is promising that the plug-in package will “significantly improve” fuel economy over a comparable gas-powered Panamera. Credit such features as the standard 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox, auto stop/start and a coasting mode that switches solely to electric power to maintain momentum when your power demands are low while cruising.
Like other members of the revised Panamera S line for 2014, the E-Hybrid will be offered with optional LED headlamps. And it will get “an entirely new range of convenience functions which can be activated and operated by Porsche Car Connect,” says the maker. That mobile app for Android and Apple devices can track charge status, pre-heat or cool the cabin, track remaining range and other vehicle functions.
The 2014 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid will start at $99,00 when it reaches U.S. shores late this year – plus $975 for delivery fees. Considering you’ll need $845,00 to land the planned Porsche 918 in your garage, that’s a veritable bargain.
Incidentally, Porsche is by no means the only German maker pushing into advanced battery propulsion. Audi unveiled its first plug-in, the A3 Sportback e-Tron, at last month’s Geneva Motor Show and promises to add another plug-in every year going forward.
(Click Here for more on the A3 e-Tron.)