The Car Is Always Greener On The Other Side... Porsche Has A New Car You Wanna Drive

What we like:

Supremely good all-round performance (given that you plug it in)

Lovely styling

Distinctive green trim stylistically highlights that this is their PHEV

What we dislike:

Expensive list of options

Fiddly virtual central air-conditioning vent adjuster

The Car Is Always Greener On The Other Side...

Porsche Has A New Car You Wanna Drive…

And when the earth needs to be cleaner; but you wanna feel alive…

Don’t we all love a good earworm? It leaves that impression in your head for the whole day. But what if it were a car instead?

Hybridisation comes naturally to most mainstream brands in this day and age. But how about when a brand, with a strong lean to performance gets things going? Well… things will surely get exciting.

Porsche’s plug-in option for the Panamera definitely leaves you with that unforgettable impression (especially in our case, when we do not own the car). This is however, not their first ever plug-in car. Porsche had been in the game around five years ago with the Panamera S E-Hybrid.

Today, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have also ramped up their efforts in fielding models with Plug-in charging capabilities, with cars like the Mercedes-Benz E 350 e and BMW 5 Series 530e. Mild-hybridisation has also become a buzzword today, with many extolling the benefits of performance, coupled with fuel savings, and without the need to plug-in. Although benefits are generally a little less than those found in PHEV cars, and will not run for long in pure EV mode, if there is one.

Well technically you can, given that you plug the car in often enough. A full charge of its 14.1kWh liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery delivers an approximate 40km. We believe in the real world, you would likely be able to do a little below 30km, with passengers, air-conditioning and your music going.

The Plug-in Panamera will happily potter around, and will even happily oblige, if you need to meet Singapore’s unrealistically low highway speeds without that lovely 2.9 litre V6 in front spinning up.

Ride quality is very good, and when driven in pure electric mode, all you get is faint road noise from those wide tyres and the buffeting from the air-conditioner.

Under the hood, the proven 2.9 litre V6 twin turbocharged engine pumps 330hp and a delicious 450Nm from an expansive band between 1,750-5,000rpm. Coupled with the Panamera’s electric drive system, total system power stands at 462hp and a whopping 700Nm, with the electric motor being able to deliver 400Nm from the get-go. 0-100km/h is an impressive 4.6 seconds.

Handling, as expected is superbly sharp, thanks to how well-balanced the car is, and it’s 2-stage adjustable independent suspension. Steering feel is razor-accurate, and our test car’s four-wheel steering helps to deliver smooth lane changes.

Four driven wheels means a car with slight lean to neutral handling characteristics, but with a good dose of rear-biased “shove”; great when you punch this “estate car” around the bends.

The Panamera seats 4+1 passengers comfortably. Bucket-styled seats are there to hold you in place, and legroom for rear passengers is generous, even if this is not the “Executive” model, which features a longer wheelbase.

Behind the driver’s seat, the visual treat of the classic Porsche 5-dial layout greets you. For those who are unfamiliar, this would be a centrally-placed analogue rev-counter, flanked by customisable digitised instrument clusters on each side. A characteristic green needle on the rev-counter and the lap timer are a constant reminder of the car’s PHEV nature.

A large touchscreen displays clearly sectioned functions, and is customisable, although a magnet for fingerprints. Equally magnetic to fingerprints, and attractive in form, is the center console; featuring haptic feedback. One major gripe, with all Panamera cars, are its inconvenient central air-conditioning vent controls, which have to be virtually controlled.

Cargo room takes a hit, due to the need to house the battery, with 425 litres available, down from 520 litres in the conventional Sport Turismo model.

Stacking up on options can always be a costly affair with any Porsche purchase. However, we believe that there is one must-have, among its extensive ala-carte list of goodies; which is its four-wheel steering system which sets you back $7,263.

As a daily driver, we love how flexible the Porsche’s Plug-in Hybrid is able to deliver the goods in terms of performance and fuel efficiency.

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