Latest Panamera 4 E-Hybrid is a family 918

When the first Porsche Panamera came to market hybrid technology was still a nascent concept. That has all changed with the latest Panamera 4 E-Hybrid.

Panamera plug-in hybrid overlays some of the technology developed by the Porsche 919 – which currently leads the 2017 World Endurance Championship – and brings it to the road. The result is a technological marvel of performance and efficiency.

Powered by a 2.9-litre turbo V6 which was developed in conjunction with Audi (read about that here) the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid is tuned to 243kW and 450Nm off a very modest boost pressure. Factor in the 100kW electric motor – of similar design to the 918 hypercar- and the instant whack of 700Nm and this Panamera hybrid can reach 100km/h in 4.6 seconds with a top speed of 278km/h. Other very Porsche bits include the dual clutch PDK gearbox sending power to all four wheels.

As Porsche continues to hone its Mission-E concept, so does the electric efficiency of its production cars improve. A liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery integrated under the luggage compartment floor has an increase in energy from 9.4 to 14.1 kWh and if you use the optional 7.2 kW on-board charger, a full battery takes less than four hours.

Panamera 4 E-Hybrid has an electric range of 50 kilometres and a fuel consumption of 2.5l/100km, if you follow all the rules. Carbon emissions are 56g/km.

New driving modes to compliment the familiar Sport and Sport Plus (with E-boost) includes E-Power, Hybrid Auto, E-Charge and E-Hold. In layman’s terms; pure-electric mode to an automatic management of combustion and electric power.  Demonstrated by other modern hybrids on sale, E-Hold can be selected to store the electric power.

The new Panamera range has been given something of a major tech reboot and for now is the most sophisticated Porsche on sale. Part of the upgrade includes two 7-inch screens, touch-sensitive panels and configurable displays.

A long wait will see the first Panamera 4 E-Hybrid models touch down in South Africa towards the middle of 2017 with pricing still to be announced. Other Panamera variants could be here at the end of 2016.