|
By
EWAN KENNEDY
14 January 2008
When one of the most highly-regarded makers of sports cars
talks about hybrid propulsion you sit up and listen. Porsche has
just announced that the petrol/electric hybrid system it’s
working on for its Cayenne SUV will also be adapted to suit its
eagerly awaited four-door sedan/coupe, the Panamera.
It comes as no surprise that Porsche's press release talks
about, "… the sporting dynamics of a Porsche together with
the low fuel consumption". In other words Porsche sees the
biggest advantage of a hybrid being the extra performance offered
for acceleration. Performance that’s often only available for a
short period of time before the extra kick from the electric
motors sucks all the stored power out of the battery. In real
life, though, the short squirt of extra acceleration is generally
all that is required.
Formula One cars will probably be required to use some sort of
energy recovery system within the next five years. Meaning energy
storage and reuse systems will have to be developed for them.
However, F1 cars may not use an electric system as we are
accustomed to seeing in hybrids in road cars from Honda, Lexus and
Toyota, and soon Porsche.
Porsche's hybrid system consists of a battery under the rear
luggage compartment and an electric motor between the engine and
transmission. As the system is a parallel one the Panamera will be
able to operate on battery power alone for short periods, such as
driving it out of an underground carpark at your apartment.
It can also be used purely as a petrol-engined car, but most
often it will simply be a petrol-electric hybrid with the computer
deciding how to get the best combination of power and/or economy
according to individual driver’s style.
Porsche Panamera in petrol format will be introduced in Europe
in 2009, with the hybrid following at a date yet to be determined.
A spokesman for Porsche in Australia, Paul Ellis, says, "We
anticipate the Porsche Panamera will go on sale in Australia
towards the end of calendar year 2009. The Hybrid drive Panamera
will also be considered for Australia."
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
|
