Exhaust pipe dreams: Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid

CAPE TOWN — The phrases “German luxury limousine”, “good for the environment” and “inexpensive to run” are not ones you would normally expect to use in the same sentence.

But emissions laws in places outside Singapore are becoming stricter, and car makers have been coming up with increasingly clever ideas to meet those restrictions. One of those clever ideas is the Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid, which breaks a few misconceptions anyone might have about high-end cars.

IT WILL BE CHEAP TO RUN

The Panamera is a luxury limousine, and it certainly does not lack power. This variant is a plug-in hybrid. If you have visions of this car pootling along the highway as you effortlessly overtake it in a cloud of fossil-fuelled exhaust gases, think again.

It produces a system total of 462hp and 700Nm of torque and will dispatch the 0-100kmh sprint in 4.6 seconds, on its way to a top speed of 278kmh. It can hit 140kmh and travel up to 50km on a full charge in electric-only mode. Charging takes about four hours, and since the lithium-ion battery pack has a capacity of 14.1kWh, it will cost S$2.80 to cover the quoted 50km electric range (based on the current electricity tariff of S$0.202/kWh).

This costs less than taking the MRT, but this is still a luxury car, so it should be said that while it is cheap to run, it is not cheap to buy.

IT IS NICE, INSIDE AND OUT

For the first time, the Panamera will be available in a long-wheelbase Executive variant, which stretches the space between the wheels by 150mm to 3,100mm, overcoming one criticism of the previous car. Since it is a luxury limousine, you can also spec a full sunroof and rear 10-inch touchscreen infotainment displays.

But it will also reduce frowns on the outside: In electric mode, the car produces a lot less noise and no air pollution, so it will not add to the smog you often see at pick-up zones. 

IT IS FULL OF GO-FASTER TECHNOLOGY

Mention the word “racing” and images of burnt rubber and exploding engines probably spring to mind. But electric power and cleaner cars have been on the agendas of car makers for a long time. Even Formula 1 features hybrid technology that makes more from less. The Panamera benefits from Porsche’s hybrid experience in LeMans Prototype racing and sports cars — its top production sports car, the 918 Spyder, is also a hybrid. 

Despite the extra weight of the car’s battery and hybrid components, the Panamera is still fun to drive, thanks to the extra punch from its electric motor and stirring, twin-turbo 3-litre V6 engine.

IT IS THE SHAPE OF MORE AFFORDABLE THINGS TO COME

Porsche is now part of the Volkswagen Group. Along with sister company Audi, it often showcases the group’s leading-edge technology.

The new Panamera is the first car from the group to be based on their new MSB platform, which will also appear in cars from the Volkswagen Group’s other brands like Audi and Bentley. Granted, the Panamera does not exactly belong to the same budget category as the group’s Volkswagen or Seat brands. However, the good news is that manufacturing economies of scale mean that costs can be saved on hybrid components for Volkswagen’s less expensive brands too, and some of this cutting-edge technology could trickle down the family tree.

IS SINGAPORE BEHIND THE TIMES?

Porsche is not new to the electric vehicle game. In fact, one of the brand’s very first machines was electric — the Lohner-Porsche from 116 years ago. The previous Panamera 4 E-Hybrid was actually Singapore’s first plug-in electric hybrid vehicle to go on public sale here in 2014. This took eight months to be approved for sale, presumably because it was the first car of its kind to land on our shores.

Plug-in hybrids and fully electric vehicles are not a panacea for reducing pollution for a simple reason — such cars are only as clean as the power grid they run on. According to the Land Transport Authority’s figures, the Panamera generates 127g/km of CO2 during electric operation. While this is higher than the quoted manufacturer’s figure of 56g/km, it is still considered relatively low for a luxury limousine.

That says more about the fuel used to make our energy than anything else, though. Cars like the Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid clearly show green-car technology is able to deliver on its promises and that perhaps it is time for Singapore to plug-in.

Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid

Engine: 2894cc, V6, biturbo, plug-in hybrid, 462bhp, 700Nm

Performance: 278kmh, 0-100km/h 4.6 seconds, 2.5 L/100km, 56g/km CO2

Price:S$430,788 without COE

On Sale: 2017

+: Luxurious, fun to drive, efficient, conscience-quelling

- : Singapore’s still not plug-in- or EV-friendly