Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid - a 671bhp Panamera Turbo with Electrickery

Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid – the new top of the range Panamera

The Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid arrives as a Panamera Turbo with the addition of a 134bhp electric motor to create a range-topping, 671bhp Porsche Panamera.

Electric cars started off as novelties, progressed through hybrids, became mainstream cars and now, finally and long overdue, are being used to make high performance cars exceptional performers. Just like this, the new Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid.

The Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid is, to all intents and purposes, your regular, run of the mill Porsche Panamera Turbo with a 543bhp 4.0 litre V8, but with a 134bhp electric motor thrown in to the equation.

The addition of an electric motor which delivers as much power as, for example, a top-end 1.0 litre Ford Ecoboost, does remarkable things to the performance, the official economy and, by dint of that, official CO2 and BIK rates.

With the electric motor wrapped up in the casing of the eight-speed PDK gearbox, the Turbo S E-Hybrid uses its combined 671bhp and 627lb/ft of torque to propel the not exactly lightweight Panamera to 62mph in 3.4 seconds, double that in 8.3 seconds and on to 193mph.

All that extra electric power does wonders for official economy and emissions, with the barking mad NEDC numbers delivering 97mpg and 66g/km CO2. That means an 11 per cent BIK rate, compared to the regular Panamera Turbo’s 37 per cent, making this a much cheaper company car for the successful director than a regular Panamera.

Not that many owners will bother, but you can plug in the Turbo S E-Hybrid to grab your electric boost, with a six hour charge at home delivering a full charge to the 14.1 kWh lithium-ion battery, enough, say Porsche, for 27 miles of EV driving.

Back in the real world, the BIK rates stay the same despite the fact that you’ll probably get around 25mpg and struggle to do more than 10-15 miles on the electric motor alone.

The Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid is now on sale at Porsche’s UK dealers, with the Turbo S PHEV costing £137,140 and the LWB version £146,545.