TEST DRIVE: 2021 Porsche Panamera 4S E-Hybrid – The World Is Changing
It’s the same 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 you’ll find on a number of other cars made under VAG’s roof. From the RS5 to other Porsches, this is a good engine that’s here to stay. It makes the same 440 HP you’ll get on other cars and normally, that would be enough for a car, even one as big as the Panamera. But here’s where the real upgrade comes in. The Panamera 4S e-Hybrid also has a 136 HP electric motor on board, to help out from time to time. This electric motor sits right inside the eight-speed automatic transmission and it takes over as soon as you set off.
Driving off in a Panamera 4S e-Hybrid (provided you charged it) is done electrically. It reminds me a lot of the Taycan, but the Panamera is a better built car with a better-quality interior. That electric motor adds a whopping 300 kilos, including the 17.9 kWh battery pack, located at the back. The position in the boot floor takes away some of the luggage space.
30 Miles Of Electric Range
According to Porsche, with a full battery, you could drive this car up to over 30 miles on a charge, without ever tripping the internal combustion engine. During my time with the car I saw an average of 25 miles which was influenced by the cold weather.
You can choose from a number of driving modes too. The car sets off in Normal, hybrid mode. This means it will rely on the battery for most of your trip, if you live inside a city. The car’s systems uses geolocation services. Therefore, if you live in rural areas, for example, and daily drive from and to work, the car will use its internal combustion engine on the way, charging the battery if need be and warming up the cabin. It will switch to electric power alone automatically, as soon as you enter the city.
Quite a smart move from Porsche, one that reminds me of BMW’s own geofenced e-Drive zones. If you don’t want to use the internal combustion engine at all and squeeze all the power out of the battery, you can do that, by choosing the pure EV driving mode in which the car can be driven at speeds up to 140 km/h. Impressive but keeping up that speed will probably deplete the battery in no time. After all, we’re talking about a 136 HP motor driving around a car that’s well over 2 tons.
Most of the time though, you’ll let the car do its thing and choose for itself which power source is more efficient. The transition from that roaring V6 to electric mode is smooth but you will notice it, as the internal combustion unit does have a particular sound to it that is hard to miss, even in Normal mode. What you should know is that you get a total of four new driving modes compared to a non-hybrid model: E-power, Hybrid Auto, E-hold and E-charge.