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| 2014Hybrid.Com |
U.S. EPA numbers are still pending, but expect it to beat the outgoing non-plug-in S Hybrid’s 22 city/30 highway/25 combined – and then there’s that all-electric capacity.
More Juice
The rear-wheel-drive E-Hybrid increases lithium-ion battery power to 9.4 kilowatt-hours (kwh) over the old car’s 1.7-kwh marginal helper.
It can recharge by plugging in one of two included Porsche Universal Charger cables for either 120 and 240 volts. Its onboard 3.6-kw charger replenishes the battery at 15 amps in 2.5 hours on the higher current level.
The usable pack capacity is 7.5 kw, or about 80 percent of total.
Not Just An Eco Car
The 2014 E-Hybrid costs $99,000 plus destination. And it’s a Porsche. Options can easily add a third or quite a bit more to this, so maybe we should just consider the fuel savings as icing on the cake, and emissions prevented as something to feel good about? Will some buyers even remember to always plug in?
Less questionable is Porsche took pains to dial the suspension, spec fat, sticky rubber, and big brakes to make this a hybrid that could be entertaining in any situation up to a track day, even if it is the heaviest of all the Panameras. At 629 pounds bulkier than a 3,990-pound non-hybrid Panamera S, and 276 pounds heavier than the second-heaviest Panamera Turbo, the E-Hybrid is no racer.
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| 2014Hybrid.Com |
It is however a couple hundred pounds lighter than an 85-kwh 2014 2014 Tesla Model S albeit without the Tesla’s super-low center of gravity, and chassis engineering has otherwise come a long way to making a toss-able nearly 2.5-ton car, if that does not sound like an oxymoron.
Tossing economy concerns out the window while we’re at it, the 2014 E-Hybrid can deliver much of what the more-focused and thirstier Panameras can on winding asphalt that goes right, left, right, left for miles.
We weren’t ready to risk tail-out antics on public roads lined with guardrails and trees, but the car – especially in Sport mode – is set up for flat-cornering fun.
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| 2014Hybrid.Com |