Do often Porsche-Models attract attention with their sometimes aggressive tone. Mostly when the traffic light is brisk or the street café is well attended. The new Panamera 4 E-Hybrid does not need this. The almost 108.000 euro sedan comes on quiet soles. His driver should even consciously enjoy this. After all, electric mobility is currently considered cool and eco-chic.
However, this is only half the truth. The other half sits under the hood in the form of a 2,9-liter twin-turbo V6 petrol engine, and comes into play at the latest when the battery capacity is exhausted. This should now only be the case after 51 kilometers. The predecessor was over after 36 kilometers at the latest. The reason is not a magic trick by the engineers from Zuffenhausen, but a very banal one. There is 50 percent more energy in the electricity storage (14,1 compared to 9,4 kWh).
If you have no more than 40 kilometers to the office and back home, it could easily happen that the internal combustion engine does not start for weeks. However, this requires an iron loading discipline. While a purely electric car (BEV) has to be plugged in once or twice a week, depending on the driving profile, a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) needs the daily dose of electricity to play off its consumption advantage. Otherwise, the elaborate technology has failed.
Porsche specifies a standard consumption of 2,5 l / 100 km for its new plug-in Panamera. This corresponds to CO2 emissions of 56 g / km. Everyone knows that these values are created under optimal conditions in the test laboratory and have nothing to do with reality. They are so low because the EU commissioners swallowed up the glorious idea of the auto industry to include the electric kilometers driven in the consumption bill. But as soon as the battery is empty, a plug-in hybrid is thirsty all the more, if only because of its higher weight, which in the Panamera case is just under 200 kilograms. Overall, the sedan weighs a good 2,2 tons. After just 68 kilometers of testing, our on-board computer showed 5,9 l / 100 km. And this should increase with each further.
The plug-in Panamera puts the most impressive performance - always provided the battery has enough power - in the "Sport Plus" mode on the floor. Together, the V6 biturbo and electric machine then generate 340 kW / 462 hp and a tight 700 Nm of torque. The latter are already at 1.100 revolutions per minute, i.e. just above idle. State-of-the-art top diesels can do that. Accordingly, the Panamera sprints from any conceivable traffic situation. In the predecessor, the accelerator pedal had to be depressed 80 percent in order to benefit from full electrical support. Now both motors respond in parallel and immediately. "We have transferred the hybrid strategy of the 918 Spyder to the Panamera," says project manager Christian Hauck.
In addition, the old Aisin automatic converter flew out and was replaced by the 8-speed PDK dual clutch transmission with disconnect clutch (for sailing). In the future, other Porsche models will also benefit from the new hybrid design.
The plant promises a sprint from zero to 4,6 km / h in just 100 seconds. The top speed should be 278 km / h. Unfortunately, we couldn't try it out. The Panamera 4 E-Hybrid was presented in South Africa. The top speed here is 120 km / h.
In addition to "Sport Plus" and "Sport", the hybrid-specific modes "Hybrid Auto", "E-Power", "E-Hold" and "E-Charge" can also be activated on the display. "E-Hold" is primarily intended if the driver can only reach his destination via an environmental zone. Passage restrictions may sound unreal now, but may be the case in many cities in just a few years. In the "E-Charge" mode, the battery is charged by the V6 petrol engine, which consumes more and represents the most uneconomical way of generating electricity.
Like its conventional brothers, the plug-in Panamera also shows a remarkable smoothness and handiness for its size and weight. No car in this class masters this balancing act so perfectly. Even rolling noise, suspension behavior and steering are without criticism. You only have to get used to the modern cockpit with its large glass surfaces and the not always intuitive menu navigation.
In terms of price and performance, Porsche sent the plug-in model with 107.553 euros between the basic version Panamera 4 (three-liter V6 monoturbo, 330 hp and 450 Nm, 93.035 euros) and the Panamera 4S (2,9-liter biturbo with 440 hp and 550 Nm, 113.027 euros). The project manager for sales and marketing, Stefan Utsch, may not be able to predict how many customers will ultimately jump on the eco-athlete, but hopes that there will be at least as many as the previous generation. Around ten percent of Panamera buyers chose the version with the socket. (Michael Specht / SP-X)