The 2021 Porsche Panamera arrived last week, and it has stirred the lineup heavily. Four years into the current-gen, the Panamera’s facelift includes a number of changes outside and a few on the inside, but the biggest change came in form of a new Turbo S model, which replaced the Panamera Turbo. The extra power boost over its predecessor was good news, but that’s not the end of it. The company is working on the hybrid version of this model, and it could be the most powerful road-going Porsche, beating the 911 GT2 RS to take the apex position in the lineup.
How Powerful Could The 2021 Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid Be?
For the 2021 model, Porsche discontinued the Panamera Turbo trim which made 550 horses and 568 pound-feet of torque from its 4.0-liter, V-8 engine. The Turbo’s replacement, the Panamera Turbo S, features the same engine, but makes 620 horses and 604 pound-feet of torque, which is an increase of 70 horses and 36 pound-feet of torque. There were questions about the Turbo S E-Hybrid, and the company’s Vice President for the product, Thomas Friemuth, said that it is yet to come and it will be a lot more powerful than the Turbo S as well.
Is This To Take On The Mercedes-AMG GT Hybrid’s 800-Horsepower Figure?
This is perhaps the result of its German counterpart’s move. Mercedes-AMG is developing a hybrid version of the GT four-door and it is expected to make over 800 ponies. If this is actually the reason for the hybrid Panamera’s power bump, then we could be looking at more than the Friemuth suggested numbers. Another thing we know about it is that all the hybrid models of the Panamera will feature a bigger 17.9 kWh battery. The previous iteration featured a 14.1 kWh pack. This should increase the electric-only range, which was 14 miles for the previous model.
It Won’t Be Faster Than The 2021 Panamera Turbo S, Though
Although the 750-plus horsepower figure would suggest that it could beat the Panamera Turbo S’ record in the executive class, Friemuth told it the Turbo S E-Hybrid won’t necessarily be the fastest. He said, “The Turbo S E-Hybrid, on a track like the Nurburgring, will not be faster. It has more horsepower but in terms of the weight of the car, at the Nürburgring, the conventional Turbo S is faster. This can differ from racetrack to racetrack.” For the uninitiated, the 2021 Panamera Turbo S became the quickest executive car on the Nurburgring a couple of weeks back with an official time of 7:29.81.
Final Thoughts
This news is super exciting and the best part is that it will be announced soon, as Friemuth stated. We speculate it to be over 770 horses, but it won’t exceed the 800-horses mark. But, that said, Porsche could surprise us by offering something extravagant and making all enthusiasts happy once in for all. How much power do you think this the 2021 Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid will make? Leave your guesstimates in the comments section below.