Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid does 62mpg in the hands of motoring journalists

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Porsche has revealed that the new Panamera S E-Hybrid – the plug-in Panamera – managed to average 62mpg in the hands of a group of motoring journalists.

The Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid – a Panamera with a plug-in hybrid powertrain – arrives last month, along with a 2013 facelift for the Panamera range , complete with claims from Porsche that it could do 91mpg.

That was never going to happen in the real world, but Porsche has followed up its official economy figures with a degree of proof that the Panamera E-Hybrid can actually achieve very impressive economy numbers in the real world, and in the hands of motoring journalists – a group not renowned for their light touch on the throttle.

At a press event in Hockenheim, Porsche let car journalists loose on the Panamera E-Hybrid for a total of 42 drives over a total distance of 750 miles and returned an average of 62mpg.

Each of the Panameras had three or four onboard, the AirCon was on and they reached speeds of up to 143mph (oh, the joys of Germany) on a course that was 20 miles long, through Hockenheim for 4 miles of city driving, on to country roads for another 6 miles or so and then on to the German Autobahn for another 10 miles. A decent variation of road and traffic conditions to reach a real world conclusion.

With 416bhp on tap and a 0-62mph of 5.5 seconds, the Panamera S E-Hybrid is no slouch, but real world figures of over 62mpg do make you wonder how long it will be before all high end cars have a plug-in hybrid option.

It seems certain all Porsches will – and before long too.