In a surprise unveil at the 2013 Auto Shanghai, the 2014 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid is not a kinetic or gasoline-electric hybrid, but is instead a plug-in gasoline-electric sports car to mark the first-ever Porsche plugin to go to production.
China is an important market for the Porsche Panamera, which debuted there in its first-generation just a few years ago. Now, the second-generation of the Panamera, the 2014 model year, has unveiled there as well. One in three Panameras are sold in China, which is the second-largest Porsche sales market next to the U.S.
The previous Panamera S Hybrid was not a popular seller and only delivered marginal efficiency gains over its standard gasoline counterpart. This next-generation plug-in hybrid, however, is expected to sell much better and will give efficiency improvements that Porsche expects will more than justify its cost over the base model.
The 2014 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid is in the S trim level (which starts at $93,200 for 2014) and will sell for $99,000, plus destination, here in the U.S. That price premium includes the top-level trim in the Panamera S plus the plug-in drive train. No EPA numbers for MPG are available yet, but improvements are expected to be in the 25-30% range over the gasoline Panamera S.
The S E-Hybrid has a 0-60 mph acceleration time of 5.2 seconds and a top track speed of 167 mph. It’s electric motor puts out 95 horsepower, more than double the 47 hp in the previous hybrid. Batteries are larger as well, now at 9.4 kWh instead of 1.7. Porsche has not said what the 2014 Panamera S E-Hybrid’s all-electric range will be, but it will likely be around 10 miles per charge. The battery requires 2.5 hours at 240V to recharge to full.
Also debuting in China were the all-new Panamera 4S Executive and Turbo Executive models, which are longer-wheelbase cars that will become available in early 2014 as higher-end vehicles with greater room in the back seats for limousine service.
The 2014 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid and other Panamera models will be available in the U.S. later this year.
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