On the highway, you can activate
“e-charge” mode if either you’re
running low on juice or want to
save it for the city, where it’ll
be put to better use.
full-EV power in town. On the highway,
you can activate “e-charge” mode if
either you’re running low on juice or
want to save it for the city, where it’ll be
put to better use. It doesn’t lock out the
electric drive completely, but while on
the highway with e-charge activated, it
can fully recharge the 9.4 kwh battery
in about 50 kilometers. Thus, allowing
you to make full use of the 435 lb.-ft. of
torque and 416 hp at your disposal with
all systems ready to go.
If you’re around a Level II charging
station, you’ll see a full charge from zero
in about two hours; find a lunch spot
nearby, and Bob’s your uncle.
When in full-gas mode on the highway,
power comes in at 333 hp and 325 lb.-ft,
meaning the eHybrid is no slouch when
relying on gas; just a little slouchier.
Thing is, when you’re loaded with
that many bodies, the eHybrid won’t
feel quite as zippy as a $125,520 super
sedan should. Adding the extra weight
of the lithium-ion battery doesn’t help
the situation.
Having said that, on a road trip like
ours, a car’s dartiness is not necessarily
priority No. 1; we wanted comfort and
efficiency. We’ve already discussed the
latter, so let’s move on to the former: is
it comfortable?
Actually, yes. Even for two adult back
seat passengers that get their own
bucket seats, a low seating position
and a cutout ceiling providing ample
headroom for a six-footer. Leg room is
no issue either, making me wonder why
they bothered with a long wheelbase
model for other Panameras (the eHybrid
doesn’t get one).
For drivers, our tester’s standard
PASM dynamic dampers are effective
to the point that even passengers were
remarking on how different the three
settings felt from one another. Being the
stubborn car guy that I am, I’d have it in
sport more often than not, until one of
my passengers pointed out over a set of
particularly harsh expansion joints that it
just didn’t feel right, and he was correct;
a switch away from “Sport” made all the
difference in the world. That’s what a
grand tourer like this needs.
What does suffer, however, is storage
space, and this is where the whole road
trip idea gets a little fuzzy.
Firstly, the charger comes with its
own suitcase-sized carrying case,
further reducing the already shallow
rear cargo area. In order to fit more
luggage, then, we had to move that to
one of the rear seats. No charger, and
the problem would be solved. You could
rely solely on plug-in stations, but as
impressed as I was about how many
of these we came across on our route,
that’s not entirely feasible.
Or is it? If you’re only planning a
single road trip a year, then maybe
you sacrifice the ability to charge
your eHybrid via plug-in for that time,
letting the powertrain do the work for
you. You’ll still have the comfort the
eHybrid provides for a road trip; we
saw 7.9L/100km over our 1,000 km
journey on the highway anyway, which
would be fantastic if only the Panamera
doesn’t require 93-octane fuel, which
is expensive and can be tough to find.
Then again, we only went through one
tank of gas throughout our journey, so…
The ultimate road trip car? If you’re
willing to sacrifice that storage space
in favour of a more involving ride, some
real efficiency and engineering befitting
of the Porsche, then it’s really hard to
argue with the eHybrid. TDM
thedriver.ca
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