Imagine a new Porsche where, on the media launch, all the talk is of range on electric power and super-low CO2. Glenn Brooks has been variously hammering and gliding around the Cotswolds, from where he reports.
This is the second Porsche new model launch of 2013 to which just-auto.com has been invited. As with the Cayman trip to the Scottish Highlands last spring, it's a laid-back affair. A buffet lunch at company HQ in Reading, a presentation by the newly installed product manager Nick Edwards – he reminds us that only in China, the US and Germany are more Porsches sold than in Britain – and then off we go to Cheltenham.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The press launch is not just for the PHEV Panamera but this is the one I most want to try. It's a new powertrain for this big hatchback and is the main news for what the people in Marketing have termed the 'second generation' model. Volkswagen did a similarly odd thing when it facelifted the current Passat, accusing it of being the Mk VII, not just a restyled Mk VI. Perhaps the last word on this is to note that Land Rover has just renamed the now former nonsensically badged Discovery 4: the second shape model, having now had a third facelift, has become not the Discovery 5 but, simply, Discovery. Much better.
As part of the Panamera's first and what will likely be its only facelift, the basic shape remains but there are the inevitable new tail-lamps which come with any car's mid-life refresh, plus quite a few other revisions. The rear registration plate has been lowered so that it sits within the bumper covering, not above it; the front air intakes are larger; the bonnet/hood has been reprofiled; mirror casings redesigned; side-skirts differently shaped; and the DRL are also a new shape – if you know the daytime light signature of the first generation car, you'll notice the new look in your rearview mirror.
The interior has been similarly peppered with all sorts of subtle changes but for a four-year old car, the Panamera looks remarkably contemporary. Porsche's Nick Edwards didn't name competitors but in the UK, it's Jaguar XJ, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series, Audi A8 & S8 and probably also the Maserati Quattroporte and a car that is sold here, but which I have only ever seen in press-issue photos, the RHD F-Sport version of the Lexus LS 460.
I didn’t mention the long wheelbase versions of some of the Panamera’s rivals as the stretched body style, another novelty with the mid-life update, won’t be offered here or in other RHD markets. For the moment at least, LWB cars will be restricted to Germany, the US and China, which is strange considering the profit potential from the British, Australian and Indian markets (Japanese buyers tend to order high-priced European brand vehicles with LHD anyway).
The standard car has a 2,920mm wheelbase, while the Executive has an additional 150mm between its wheelarches. I had a look at prices in the home market and Porsche charges about EUR18,000 more for the EUR163,364.00 Executive version of the range-topping Turbo. The GBP200 I paid out for an extra legroom seat on next month’s Virgin Atlantic flights to Sydney and back now seems like a total bargain.
Any potential lessee might well have struggled to park his or her Executive in the typically squeezy British garage or designated on-street parking space anyway, thanks to its 5,165mm size. To offer some context, that’s 81mm shorter than the new S 500 L, or 87mm fewer than make up the length of an XJ L. The standard Porsche is ‘just’ 5,015mm long so a lot less potentially problematic for streets with tight turns and all those nasty, income-maximising carparks which fail to have their spaces angled at the logical 45-degrees.
As the late Fisker Karma proved, you cannot take adequate rear legroom in a five metre long car as a given. But in this Porsche, it’s absolutely fine and you do wonder who really needs the Executive body style anyway. The whole interior feels similar to the big Jag as you’re more or less cocooned and sit low. ‘Cosy’ would be an accurate description and that's meant as a compliment. Even folding down the optional rear seat-back tables allows each rear occupant plenty of space and there’s loads of headroom.
The hatchback body style sets this vehicle apart from just about all sports-luxury segment rivals, with the exception of the S7, RS 7 and in non-UK markets, the Tesla Model S. In truth, these three, even if they have similar performance, are not quite in the same price or size league, so you can make a case for the S E-Hybrid being a unique offering.
Panamera sales globally hit the 100,000 mark this past May, which is impressive when you consider that this is the first generation of a low-slung luxury challenger for the established top sellers. The LS and S-Class have battled for the worldwide number one status for over 20 years now and we all know how long it took for Audi's A8 to be accepted as an authentic entrant in this class. In that context, 27,000 Panameras sold in 2012 is a big success story and Porsche believes the refreshed model will help it repeat that total in 2013.
Where have all these cars been manufactured? The bodies continue to be made at Volkswagen's van plant in Hanover before being sent off to Porsche’s Leipzig factory to be turned into Panameras. The PHEV goes down the same line as the petrol and diesel cars. The 2,995cc supercharged V6 is supplied by the Volkswagen Group. If its capacity sounds familiar, it's the same 333hp unit as also fitted to the Touareg Hybrid and Cayenne Hybrid, but obviously, neither of those is a PHEV.
Those readers interested in vehicle architectures should take note that this car, the codename of which is 970, is said to sit on G1, a bespoke platform. While the S E-Hybrid takes drive to its rear wheels, other derivatives have AWD, and the successor architecture will similarly be RWD and/or AWD. Porsche has been chosen by its parent as the centre of excellence for MSB architecture development, under the direction of Wolfgang Hatz. After the debut of the Panamera successor in 2016, a Bentley rival for the BMW M6 Gran Coupé due around 2018 should also use MSB.
The model range in the UK starts with the GBP69,893 Panamera. Above this sit the all-wheel drive Panamera 4, the Diesel, the S, the 4S, then the S E-Hybrid, the GTS and finally the Turbo.
You probably noticed that the S Hybrid is missing from the above range. This derivative was discontinued when the facelifted car was revealed at the Shanghai motor show in April, and its effective successor is the PHEV. In North America, the S Hybrid therefore may end up being something of an eventual collector's item: new for that region's 2013 model year, it has been dropped for MY2014. In the US, the 2014 S E-Hybrid is listed at $99,000, which is about three thousand dollars more than the 2013MY S Hybrid.
Another change that came with the facelifted range is for the Diesel. The Volkswagen Group’s 2,967cc V6 is one of the engines which has had some changes in recent times, and now produces 300hp, a rise of 50 over the unit in the original. Torque is also up, to 650Nm. Readers in the US will be interested to note that while a toe was dipped in the water with the local launch of the 245hp/550Nm 3.0-litre V6 Cayenne Diesel for the 2013 model year, there is still no Panamera Diesel for them (and no 382hp/850Nm 4.1-litre V8 Cayenne S Diesel either – sorry to rub it in).
Porsche’s own 4,806cc petrol V8 continues, meanwhile, for the normally aspirated 400hp Panamera GTS and 520hp Turbo but the 4.8-litre V8 no longer powers the S and 4S – these now have a 420hp biturbo 2,997cc V6. The Turbo S (and Turbo S Executive in relevant markets) will be added from early 2014.
The S E-Hybrid will zip along in silence even on the motorway, and at speeds of up to the maximum 135km/h on battery reserves alone. Press or release the throttle pedal as abruptly as you can, but unless you see the tacho swing into life or possess the hearing of a superhero, it's impossible to tell when the combustion engine fires up or shuts off. There is a setting to feed energy to the batteries, and that means it's possible to squirrel away as much as 36km or 22 miles of range for use later. It’s easy enough to do too, but by the same token, flooring the right pedal sees the EV reserves falling rapidly, according to a special LED indicator readout.
The combined output of the 70kW motor and 333hp supercharged 3.0-litre petrol V6 is quoted as 416hp, while the high voltage cells have power of 9.4kWh and weigh 129kg. Using an industrial socket, you can recharge your car from flat in just over two hours. There is a big, black canvas bag in the boot which contains the leads. As for official energy consumption (Combined NEDC), this is quoted as 16.2kWh/100km. Using the same system, the CO2 average is just 71g/km. Weight is 2,095kg, top speed is 270km/h or 165km/h when in ‘coast’ mode (the engine is decoupled to save fuel) and zero to 62mph takes a claimed 5.5 seconds.
Porsche GB hasn’t announced any sales expectations for the plug-in hybrid but this car, like, for example, the Peugeot 508 HYbrid4, can have 100 percent of its value written down over the first financial year. That’s obviously for company users, who register the Panamera as an asset. You cannot imagine that anyone shelling out for the lease payments on a ninety thousand pound car would even know what VED and road tax usually cost but socially, it’s good to be able to tell your buddies you’re driving what can be a zero emissions vehicle: the S E-Hybrid attracts no VED nor First Registration Fee.
The car always moves away using energy stored in the batteries, but you can just drive around using the petrol engine all the time if you like. Public charging points are able to be used, plus there is a specially-branded recharger which you get for free. E.ON will have one of its technicians install it at no extra cost so long as your home doesn't need rewiring.
Will the S E-Hybrid set the Porsche sales charts alight? No. Will it give the brand a warm, acid green glow amongst its owners? Absolutely. The new 918 Spyder, the most powerful hybrid model from Porsche, will cost the equivalent of a breathtaking two million US dollars in China, it has just been announced. And yet you just know that that market’s allocation of the 918 cars which will be built in total is probably already sold out.
The Spyder shows just how powerful this company’s allure is to enthusiasts the world over. But the world continues to change, and to keep on selling its big capacity six- and eight-cylinder sports cars and SUV, Porsche must keep on reinventing itself. The Panamera S E-Hybrid is part of the continued image makeover – heavy SUVs, supercars, and now plug-in hypercars and big four-seater super-hatchback Porsches can also be eco-friendly. Or rather they must be for the company to have a future as dazzlingly bright as its past, and present.
