Adding to its growing line of environmentally conscious, yet ultra luxurious, cars Porsche has just unveiled the Panamera S Hybrid
While Porsche might have made its reputation building hardcore sports cars and luxury SUVs, these days the cars from the Stuttgart-based auto maker are making their mark on the world in more ways than one. A case in point is this new Panamera S Hybrid. What Porsche did was take the standard four-door four-seat grand touring car, ripped out its drivetrain and replaced it with the 3.0-litre supercharged 333PS V6 petrol motor and 34 kW electric motor from the Cayenne S Hybrid. What this helps this massive, ultra luxurious grand tourer is an unprecedentedly high mileage figure of 14kmpl and equally low exhaust gas emissions at just 167 g/km of CO2. But factor in the low rolling resistance all season tyres developed specially for the Panamera by Michelin, which are available as an option, and this fuel mileage figure further bumps up to 14.7kmpl while the emissions drop to a scant 159 g/km of CO2.
But being a Porsche, it’s not just about fuel economy and emissions, it’s about outright performance too. The Panamera S Hybrid accelerates from a standing start to 100 km/h in 6.0 seconds, reaching top speed at 270 km/h. The range in purely electric mode is approximately two kilometers with electric driving possible up to 85 km/h, depending on the driving situation. The Porsche hybrid drive is also the only system in the world able to exploit additional consumption reserves thanks to so-called "sailing" on motorways and main roads. This entails disengaging and switching off the combustion engine at speeds of up to 165 km/h during phases when no power is being delivered by the combustion engine.
The Panamera S Hybrid is driven by the same engine combination that has already proved itself in the Cayenne S Hybrid: The main propulsion is provided by a 3-litre V6 engine delivering 333 hp supported by a 47 hp electric motor. Both machines are capable of powering the Panamera S Hybrid either alone or in combination. The electric motor also operates both as a generator and a starter. Together with the decoupler it forms the compact hybrid module located between the combustion engine and the transmission. The electric motor is connected to a NiMh where the electrical energy recovered from braking and driving is stored. Power transmission is handled by the familiar 8-speed Tiptronic S fitted as standard in the Cayenne models.
The range of standard equipment for the Panamera S Hybrid is even wider than that of the already extensive standard equipment of the Panamera S with eight-cylinder engine. For example, the hybrid model is fitted as standard with the adaptive air suspension including the adaptive shock-absorber system with PASM, with Servotronic and a rear wiper. The new car also features the Cayenne S Hybrid’s innovative display concept that provides the driver with all the relevant information about the vehicle’s specific hybrid driving status.
This new hybrid Panamera becomes the sixth model in the Panamera family and will be officially launched at the Geneva Motor Show in the first week of March.
