Porsche's first plug-in five months away

Porsche Cars Australia has confirmed it will introduce its first plug-in hybrid model in late August, as part of the upgraded Panamera line-up.

Due to make its global debut at the Shanghai motor show on April 20, the Panamera PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) is expected to account for a tiny proportion of sales of the facelifted Panamera, which we recently spied in testing.

However, Porsche Cars Australia sales and marketing director Kevin Nicholls revealed the first plug-in Porsche will be priced only incrementally higher than the Panamera S Hybrid it replaces.

The hybrid Panamera currently costs $300,500 plus on-road charges -- $99,100 more than the Panamera V6 upon which it’s based ($201,400), $13,400 more than the V8-powered Panamera S ($287,100) and $1200 more than the all-wheel drive Panamera 4S ($299,300).

Despite the relatively modest price premium over V8 variants of the Panamera, which offer equivalent levels of performance, hybrids accounted for less than two per cent of Panamera sales last year, with just a handful of petrol-electric models finding local customers from about 100 total Panamera registrations.

Hybrids comprised a similar proportion of Cayenne sales, which numbered 857 in 2012, but the Cayenne S Hybrid – which commands a similar premium over V8 versions of the luxury SUV – still found less than 10 Australian buyers last year.

Nicholls said Porsche’s first plug-in may attract a slightly larger group of early-adopters here, but the nation’s lack of recharging infrastructure and Australians’ preference for performance over economy would see it remain a niche model.

“It’s our technology flagship, so we’ll be making quite a bit of noise about the Panamera plug-in, but relative to Europe and the US it will be very small numbers here,” he said.

As we reported when Porsche staged the world debut of the Panamera Sport Turismo plug-in at last September’s Paris show, the same V6 petrol-electric drive system will also power next year’s facelifted Cayenne.

The Panamera wagon concept, which previews a possible ‘shooting brake’ version of the next-generation Panamera due around 2016, delivers a total output of 306kW from a supercharged V6 petrol engine and an electric motor – eclipsing the 294kW output of the 4.8-litre V8 in the Panamera S.

The Audi-sourced supercharged petrol V6 contributes 245kW while a new-generation electric (also mounted up front) motor adds 70kW -- about twice as much as Porsche’s current hybrid system in the Panamera and Cayenne.??

The Panamera and Cayenne PHEV’s electric motor is powered by a new Lithium-Ion battery pack that replaces the nickel-metal-hydride battery in the current hybrid and, says Porsche, can be fully recharged in as little as two and a half hours.??

The Sport Turismo show car was claimed to deliver 30km of pure electric driving at speeds of up to 130km/h. Acceleration to 100km/h was listed at less than six seconds, with combined fuel consumption stated at just 3.5L/100km and CO2 emissions at only 82g/km.

The figures exceed those of the outgoing Panamera S Hybrid, which produces 279kW/580Nm, is claimed to hit 100km/h in six seconds and consumes 7.1L/100km – more than the Panamera Diesel (6.5L/100km).

As revealed in spy shots of prototypes shot in Scandinavia earlier this month, the facelifted Panamera will not feature the radical new front-end and all-new interior of the Sport Turismo concept, which previews the next-generation Panamera, but instead will bring subtly revised front and rear styling, including LED lighting technology.

The new 911 look for Porsche’s first sedan will mark the midlife makeover for Porsche’s rival for large four-door ‘coupes’ like the Mercedes-Benz CLS, BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe, Audi A7 Sportback and Maserati Quattroporte.

The facelifted Panamera will appear at Shanghai precisely four years after the original Panamera debuted there in April 2009.

Porsche’s next PHEV will be the million-dollar (and left-hand drive-only) 918 Spyder hypercar due for European  release in September. The 918 is claimed to consume less than 3.0L/100km while being able to hit 100km/h in less than three seconds.

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