Porsche Planning Hybrid Option for All Model Lines

Porsche AG intends to offer a hybrid powertrain in each of its major model lines, according to Edmunds.com, which cites no sources.

The online auto data service also offers no timetable. But it says all installations will use components developed for the upgraded 2014 Panamera S hybrid sedan introduced at the Shanghai auto show in April. That model, which will carry a base price of about $100,000, goes on sale in Europe this summer and in the U.S. a few months later.

The new hybrid powertrain includes a 3.0-liter, dual-turbocharged V-6 gasoline engine. A revised 95-hp electric motor will deliver twice as much power as the unit used in the current Panamera hybrid. The system's 9.4-kWh battery stores 5.5 times as much energy as its predecessor.

Porsche says the new powertrain will deliver 416 hp and 435 lb-ft of torque. That compares with 380 hp and 428 lb-ft of torque for this year's model.

The new system can push the Panamera from zero to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds (0.5 seconds quicker than the current hybrid system) and to an identical top speed of 167 mph. The updated configuration can drive the car about 22 miles on electric power alone compared with less than two miles for the current system.

The Panamera hybrid will be joined late this year by the limited-production 918 Spyder hybrid supercar. Edmunds.com says the Spyder will soon be followed by a plug-in version of Porsche's Cayenne SUV.