Green Exec Rocket

The Panamera 4 E-Hybrid is a fastback with plenty of green technology and equally plentiful sportiness.

- Jeremy Chua

MOST carmakers produce petrol-electric hybrids to meet emission regulations and demonstrate their ecofriendly technologies.

Toyota is a perfect example of this. The brand’s Prius model is the benchmark when it comes to green motoring.

Manufacturers such as Porsche, on the other hand, create hybrids for the sole purpose of demonstrating that they can create green cars with devastating performance.

Indeed, Porsche’s halo model is the limited-edition 918 Spyder – a hybrid hypercar capable of lapping the Nurburgring in less than seven minutes. Six minutes and 57 seconds, to be exact.

So when Porsche says that their inspiration for the new Panamera 4 E-Hybrid is the 918 Spyder, you’d better believe that they’re dead serious.

Walk up to this fastback saloon and you’ll immediately notice that it has more road presence than its predecessor, the Panamera S E-Hybrid.

Seeing this, I began wondering how Porsche was going to make this sizeable all-wheel-drive fastback consume even less fuel than the older model, which has a rear-wheel-drive layout.

Perhaps this would be accomplished by the slightly smaller engine. The Panamera 4 E-Hybrid has a turbocharged 2.9-litre V6, whereas its predecessor has a supercharged 3-litre V6.

But when I read how much more muscle the new E-Hybrid has, I really began doubting the car’s green credentials.