122 | theceomagazine.com
Yes, combining a battery-powered electric motor
with a fossil-fuel-sipping engine will deliver you
fabulously low fuel-economy figures, and a green glow
of self-righteousness, but for a driving enthusiast or a
premium-brand fan, they’re as deeply invigorating as
catching a bus. Until now.
It should come as no surprise that Porsche – which
recognises that the electric future is coming but will fight
against the silencing of its superb engine the way an old
author rages against the dying of the light – has come up
with a hybrid that people might actually want to buy.
What is surprising is just how far it has taken the
idea, creating a car – the Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid
(apparently it takes almost as long to say the name as
it does to recharge its batteries) – that sits at the top of
its particular model range as the supreme performance
vehicle of its kind.
And if you think that indicates that Porsche thinks
hybrids are the way of the near future, and will keep
internal-combustion engines relevant for at least a little
longer, you’re right.
Porsche has found a way to harness the clever-
dickery of combining battery power with old-school
mumbo, not just for incredible fuel efficiency but to add
extra boost, and stupid acceleration, to traditional cars.
In the case of the Panamera, Porsche already had a
Turbo version, powered by a very angry twin-turbo V8
engine that makes 404kW and 770Nm, and can roar
its way to 100km/h in 3.6 seconds, which is very fast
indeed for a giant (5m long, 2m wide) executive saloon
that has two sporty seats in the front, and two more
exactly the same in the back to make rear passengers
feel special and involved.
The S E-Hybrid, however, adds elec-trickery into
the mix, and takes total power to 504kW and torque
to 850Nm, all of which is available to help you turn
other cars into blurry objects from just off idle right up
to its screaming red line, because electric motors are
good like that.
It also enables you to hit a top speed of 310km/h,
launch yourself from zero to 100km/h in a Lamborghini
Huracán-matching 3.4 seconds, and to accelerate from
100km/h to 200km/h, which comes in handy so often,
in just 8.3 seconds, almost a full second faster than the
boring old petrol-only Panamera Turbo.
And, thanks to the fact that you can run it in
a very clever, very green EV-only mode for up to
50km (long enough for the average commute to work,
and back again) at speeds of up to 130km/h, it’s also
able to claim a theoretical fuel figure of just 2.9 litres
per 100km, compared with the Turbo Panamera’s
9.4L/100km.
It seems unlikely that anyone will ever achieve that
figure, of course, because if you’re the kind of person
who’s willing to spend A$460,100 on a machine that
can – damn the torpedoes, and damn economy figures- fire you at the horizon with a combination of maximum
electronic boost and wild V8 power, whenever you
switch it to its sportier modes, it seems unlikely you’ll
spend too much time running it in silent mode.
Sure, it’s nice to know it’s there, and whenever you
have a new passenger on board you’ll spend a minute
or two showing them how clever it is, but the rest of the
time you’ll be wanting to hear that enthusiastic, ecstatic
V8 you paid most of that money for.
The trade-off for all that stupendous acceleration
and tech trickery, is, of course, weight. Hybrids might
suddenly be interesting, but they’re still heavy, with all
their batteries and motors and on-board chargers,
which is why it might be a little while yet until we see
a hybrid Porsche 911.
The hybridisation of the Panamera Turbo adds
almost 300kg (taking it over 2.3 tonnes) and, while this
certainly doesn’t blunt its performance, it does add the
kind of weight penalty you can’t fail to notice when you’re
throwing it at corners, or changing direction quickly.
Obviously, something this big, spacious, luxe
inside and passenger cosseting is not about ultimate
cornering ability, but what is amazing is how well it
copes with all that weight, and size, and still delivers
a truly Porsche-like level of joy in the bends.
The steering is excellent, the ride quality supreme,
and, combined with its stupidly fast powertrain, it’s
a car you can have some serious fun on a racetrack
with. Not that any owner will ever do so.
What owners will do, with much enjoyment, is
shock their friends by telling them they’ve bought a
hybrid, and it’s a Porsche. And that they love it.