The Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Is Plug-In Perfection: Review

I’m tired, boss. I’m tired of plug-in hybrid performance cars.

So far, it’s been nothing but trouble for the carmakers who have gone down the Dark Path. The new

weighs approximately 3 million tons and it’s barely faster than before. The Mercedes-AMG C63S E Performance can only be described as ‘disappointing.’ Even the latest PHEV supercars, like the Ferrari SF90 and McLaren Artura, weren’t immediately well-received. The Ferrari 296 GTB might be the lone exception.

Photo by: Chris Rosales / Motor1

When the new Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid arrived in my driveway, I steeled myself for the worst. Moping my way to the car, I feared that Porsche would also fall for the gimmick of overcomplicating, overweighting, and overpowering its already excellent sports sedan. I hit the start button and heard no report from its twin-turbo V-8—ugh.

But all it took was a long drive in the 5,302-pound, actively suspended, 771-horsepower hybrid Panamera to prove me wrong. PHEV was never the problem—it was always the execution.

The Panamera flips the script on its head. Normally, heavier and more complicated are distinctly bad things in performance vehicle development. But Porsche had a distinct advantage: Time. While everyone resisted the incoming era of hybridization, Porsche embraced the technology with the first Panamera S E-Hybrid in 2017, and the 918 Spyder in 2013. That engineering maturity shows in the latest version.

On paper, this car has a usable 40 miles of range out of a 25.9-kilowatt-hour battery, and a healthy 187 horsepower’s worth of electric assist. Combined with the VW Group’s ubiquitous twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8, the Panamera puts out a total of 771 horsepower and 737 pound-feet of torque, enough to send it to 60 miles per hour in about 2.8 seconds.

Photo by: Chris Rosales / Motor1

Photo by: Chris Rosales / Motor1

Photo by: Chris Rosales / Motor1

The newly developed active suspension system is the most substantial piece of the Panamera’s engineering mosaic. It jumps up 2.2 inches when opening a door for better ingress and egress (it also makes the Panamera look like it just saw a mouse). And it works like magic on the road.

Then, as usual, the Good Porsche Stuff: A low, reclined seating…