Porsche Confirms Panamera Hybrid
If you’ve been following the Porsche brand at all lately, chances are you’ve noticed a discernable swing in the iconic marque’s priorities from the unhinged, unforgettable, unapologetic single-digit miles per gallon rating of the old 911 GT1 to the environmentally friendly, fuel-sipping power production of the recently-confirmed 918 Spyder.
Of course, this is seen by many to be a good thing, but as most aficionados could tell you, it’s not the brand’s lightweight sports cars that need the assistance. With the 911, Boxter, and Cayman lines already relative featherweights capable of returning astonishingly good fuel economy, and the Cayenne already available in a Hybrid variant, it’s the brand’s big saloon that could use a boost of the gas/electric variety. And thankfully for ecologically-minded would-be-Panamera buyers, that boost is coming. Borrowing much of its hardware from the forthcoming Cayenne S Hybrid, the Panamera S Hybrid will be bestowed with the same 329 horsepower V6, augmented by a 46 horsepower electric motor. Due to the system’s parallel architecture, the Panamera S Hybrid will be able to operate on battery power alone at low speeds, a claim the Cayenne S Hybrid can also make.
How these models will be priced may determine their popularity, however, Lexus has already paved the way for luxury hybrid sedans with its range-topping, and relatively successful LS600hL, which leaves the big Porsche poised to take over in the big saloon market as the most sporting gas-electric hybrid in its class.
