By Michael Floyd – MotorTrend
“Is this thing on?” After turning the ignition switch located the left side of the dash (yes, Porsche still does that) of the 2021 Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo Turbo S E-Hybrid, the instrument panel and nav screen flash on, but there’s no sonic boom, nothing to indicate that its massive stable of 690 horses have sprung to life. Oh right, it always starts in the fully electric E-Power mode.
Porsche wants you to know there’s plenty of E in its E-Hybrid Panamera models, and it takes me a second to make sure it’s in gear as I silently back up. The top dog of the Panamera line has prodigious power but also a 17.9-kWh battery pack under the trunk plus an electric motor packaged between its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 and PDK eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Together, they provide the motivation for the Turbo S E-Hybrid to silently stalk about town.
