2022 Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid Sport Turismo

The 2022 Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid Sport Turismo is one of the more recent additions to the Panamera lineup that first appeared back in 2009. The much-better-looking second-generation Panamera arrived in 2017 and with it came a new body style called the Sport Turismo. We call it a wagon. Enthusiasts rejoiced at the extra capability as the Sport Turismo was offered with every powertrain from the V6 to the turbo V8 and the hybrid, which might have the honor of longest name in the entire auto world - welcome to the 2022 Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid Sport Turismo. That's quite a mouthful.

We'll note that this wagon, unlike the Mercedes-Benz E450 or the recently canceled Volvo V90, is more of a style wagon. That's because it gains less than a cubic foot of cargo space when going with the new body style. However, it did get more eyes and more thumbs up than the regular sedan, and that has to count for something. You want your car to be cool, right?

We obviously love the mega-powerful Turbo S version with 690 horsepower and a 0-60 mph sprint time of around three seconds. But the hybridized 4S E-Hybrid, which starts at almost 75 grand cheaper than the Turbo S, still brings 552 horses to the table, but also comes with a 50 MPGe economy rating. Is the E-Hybrid the Panamera Sport Turismo to get? Let's find out.

The Panamera works a lot better as a wagon, making the Sport Turismo a great option for the more style-conscious buyer. The long roofline and Porsche's latest design tweaks give it a sporty, athletic aura. The base model comes with 19-inch alloy wheels, LED exterior lighting, twin single-tube tailpipes, an adaptive rear spoiler, and a panoramic roof that makes the cabin feel even more spacious. Brake calipers in Acid Green are the most noticeable sign that this is a hybridized Porsche. The 4S model has twin dual-tube tailpipes and larger 20-inch alloys, while the Turbo S has 21-inch wheels and square-shaped quad-exit exhaust outlets.

The Panamera Sport Turismo is a sizable car with an overall length of 198.8 inches. It's 85.2 inches wide with the mirrors extended and 56.2 inches tall. The 4S is 85.3 inches wide including its mirrors but otherwise shares the same dimensions as the 4. The Turbo is slightly taller at 56.4 inches, thanks to its standard 21-inch wheels. All of this sits on an ample 116.1-inch wheelbase. The 4 weighs 5,004 pounds, while the 4S weighs in at 5,042 lbs. The top-spec Turbo S weighs a hefty 5,311 lbs, but that weight is easily countered by the 690-hp output.

Both the 4 and 4S use the same base 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 engine. In base format, the gas engine alone has 325 hp, while the 4S produces 443 hp. The Turbo S model still uses a 4.0-liter twin-turbo engine. Each car gets a 134 hp/295 lb-ft electric motor.

The power outputs of these hybrid models are insane. The base model has a combined power output of 455 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. With a grippy all-wheel-drive system and the Sport Chrono Package, it'll reach 60 mph in just 4.2 seconds and can attain a top speed of 174 mph. With electric power alone, the top speed is 87 mph.

The mid-range 4S produces combined outputs of 552 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. This model is capable of a 0-60 time of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 182 mph. Like the other models, the quick acceleration is aided by the swift changes of the 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The Turbo S has an insane set of figures. Its powertrain produces 690 hp and 641 lb-ft of torque. The electric power comes in first, shoving the car off the line and snapping your head back at the same time. The engine kicks in a few seconds later, whooshing the vehicle up to and past expressway speeds. It has a 0-60 time of three seconds and a 196-mph top speed. Take your foot off the gas and the Panamera will coast silently as the revs drop to zero. If you're light with the throttle, very light, the electric motor can keep it humming along for several miles.

The E-Hybrid is an aggressive hybrid. And by aggressive we mean aggressively green. There are four modes: E-Power, Hybrid Auto, Sport, and Sport Plus. The first one is EV only, and that's where the car starts every time. Hybrid Auto is what we used most of the time, and that's where your best gas mileage will come from. Sport and Sport Plus are both fast and fun, and they recharged the battery more than they use it.

Both the Panamera sedan and this station wagon have variable ratio, electromechanical power steering. A lot of manufacturers have the same setup but Porsche has tuned it perfectly for the size of the vehicle. You don't want to feel every bump that crosses your path, but you do want some feedback in the steering wheel. This is a good balance. The 20-inch wheels are big enough to cover most potholes and the jolts from the bigger ones are well muted.

Around cloverleaf expressway ramps, this 2.5-ton car sticks to the road like spray tack. We didn't have the guts to push it far enough to start sliding around. In fact, the all-wheel-drive system made sure we didn't get a squeak from those tires, even on hard launches. Just set that steering wheel in a long turn and leave it there.

Finally, our favorite feature has to be the push-to-pass button on the steering wheel. It's the dial that you use to change drive modes, but it has a button in the middle called "sport response." It turns everything to Sport Plus driving mode for 20 seconds, with a timer that you can see in the head-up display. It's basically a "get out of this situation" button. By the time the timer runs out, you could be in a different zip code.

We'll start by noting that in our first 100 miles we saw about 37 mpg without really trying in the 4S we had on test. It was a good bit of highway driving, but if you keep your battery charged this is as efficient as a mid-size Toyota sedan.

All three models are plug-in hybrids, which means they have a small but useful all-electric driving range. The 4 and 4S can travel 19 miles on electricity. EPA-rated figures for the 2022 Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid Sport Turismo Turbo S aren't yet available but they're unlikely to differ from the 2021 model's 48 MPGe, 19 mpg, and 17-mile electric range.

According to the EPA, the 4 can manage 52 MPGe and 22 mpg, while the 4S can do 50 MPGe and 22 mpg. The estimated range on a single tank for the 4 and 4S is 480 miles, while the Turbo S can do 430 miles. All three plug-in hybrid models are equipped with a 21.1-gallon tank.

Charging takes three hours on a 240-volt outlet.

Inside the cabin, the Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid wagon features power-adjustable front seats with good thigh support. It was easy to find a comfortable position and sightlines out the windshield are good. The leather is firm, but we appreciate the leg and side bolsters for keeping us in place around said expressway cloverleafs.

The rear seats only have space for two, and for a 5-foot-10 passenger, our tester was perfectly comfortable back there, although the center rear seat is rather narrow. Our test car had dark leather called Marsala, which we loved. All the stitching looked great and everything was tightly wrapped and clean-looking.

Surrounding the gearshift are buttons on a piano black surface. They disappear when the car is off and light up when it comes back on. You have quick access to your traction control, suspension adjustments, your heated and cooled seat, and a few other functions. This is a better solution than Mercedes, which has the same type of buttons in the same place, but they're not as hidden when the car is off.

The hybrid models do lose some space compared to the ICE Sport Turismo models. The 4 and Turbo offer 14.7 cubic feet of trunk space, and Porsche curiously quotes a larger 15-cube figure for the mid-range 4S. By comparison, the gas-only Sport Turismo offers a more practical 18.3 cubes.

Thankfully, the Sport Turismo is a four-seater because that's all the baggage it can handle. The rear seats fold down in a 40/20/40 split, increasing the cargo capacity to 45.4 cubes (45.7 in the 4S).

In-cabin storage is also disappointing. You get four cupholders and storage space underneath the center armrest. There is also a small storage space in the rear center console. The door pockets are too small to be truly useful.

Porsche is quite stingy when it comes to standard features. You get enough to make the car comfortable, but too many features are left on the options list, which isn't great when the base price is nearly $110,000. The 4 and 4S come with heated eight-way power-adjustable front seats, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry/start, parking sensors front and rear, a rearview camera, and a multi-function steering wheel with paddles. To make up for the massive price increase of the Turbo S, Porsche includes 14-way power adjustment for the front seats and heating for the rear seats. The most shocking omissions are on the driver assistance side. Porsche includes lane-keep assist and traffic sign recognition, but you're still expected to pay extra for a surround-view camera system and adaptive cruise control.

The Panameras get the brand's latest Porsche Communication Management infotainment system with a 12.3-inch screen. Your mode buttons stay on the left and need to be scrolled up and down for functions. Apple CarPlay is wireless, and its screen is inset into the main one. We like this setup because it allows access to the vehicle's native functions without canceling your music or podcast. As for Android Auto, it's now standard but is wired.

It's a touchscreen, but it can also be controlled with a rotary dial placed just ahead of the volume dial near the gear shifter. We found the best way to control it is through touch, but it does get a little annoying trying to scroll down through the functions while driving. It has voice control too if you're so inclined. The native navigation fills the wide screen and it's easy to enter addresses via the screen or by voice. Real-time traffic colors roads in red, yellow, or green, and you can also switch to a satellite view to see buildings and parking areas. Online updates always keep the system up to date.

The setup includes Bluetooth, SiriusXM satellite radio, HD Radio, and USB ports. The 4 and 4S models have a 10-speaker hi-fi sound system but the Turbo S is upgraded with a 14-speaker Bose surround-sound system. This Bose system is optional on the 4 and 4S, but all models can be upgraded with a 21-speaker Burmester high-end 3D surround-sound system.

The E-Hybrid Sport Turismo PHEV was free of recalls for the 2019 and 2020 model years, but the 2021 4S suffered from two recalls. One was for front lower trailing arms that were incorrectly forged and another was for a seat belt locking retractor malfunction. No recalls have yet affected the 2022 model.

All models are covered by a four-year/50,000-mile limited warranty and an eight-year/100,000-mile battery warranty.

No Porsche Panamera E-Hybrid Sport Turismo safety review has yet been published by the NHTSA or IIHS. Globally, Porsche models continue to score well in various safety tests, so it's unlikely the Sport Turismo is unsafe.

Standard safety items include ABS brakes, ten airbags, parking sensors front and rear, a rearview camera, rain-sensing wipers, traffic sign recognition, and lane-keep assist. The airbag count includes side airbags for all outboard seating positions and knee airbags for the driver and front-seat passenger. Since it's tricky to see out the back, blind-spot monitoring would have been a welcome addition. High-end models - or any model above $30,000 for that matter - usually come with a set of basic driver assistance features. Still, Porsche charges you extra for adaptive cruise control, a head-up display, lane change assist, night vision, and a surround-view camera system.

Of all the Panameras, we think the E-Hybrid is the best. It's efficient but powerful, and we'd add, restrained. We were never wanting for more power and there's something eerily cool about creeping through your neighborhood at night on electric power alone. Add the wagon-ish body style to that and we'll go on record saying the mid-range Panamera 4S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo is our favorite of a huge bunch.

Now, the base Panamera E-Hybrid Sport Turismo does have a starting price of $109,000. At that price, there's no shortage of performance sedans and wagons. The all-new Audi RS6 Avant is a prime example, not to mention the evergreen Mercedes-AMG E63. Of course, both of those wagons are far thirstier. The top-spec Turbo S goes for a staggering $193,800, another reason we'd opt for the mid-range 4S instead. Regardless of the model you go for, the Panamera E-Hybrid Sport Turismo is a thoroughly unique spin on the high-end luxury car. If Porsche added more safety equipment as standard, it'd be even easier to recommend this rapid, athletic wagon.

The base 4 model has an MSRP of $109,000, increasing to $118,700 for the 4S. A top-spec Turbo S retails for a hefty $193,800. These prices exclude the $1,350 destination fee.

To give you some idea of how much the options add to the price, we built a 4S model using the configurator. Our reasons for choosing this model are explained below.

We went for Amethyst Metallic, 21-inch high-gloss black wheels, the Bordeaux Red interior, adaptive front sports seats, the Premium Package, the Assistance Package for added safety, and a performance exhaust with black tailpipes. The total price of all these goodies is nearly $28,000, or roughly the price of a new Ford Mustang. Considering the Turbo S costs around over $190,000 without options, the 4S can be considered a (relative) bargain.

On a positive note, all E-Hybrid models should qualify for a federal tax credit. For 2021 models, the value of this tax credit was $7,500.

The Porsche Panamera 4S E-Hybrid Sport Turismo starts at $118,700 before destination. This one as tested topped out at $140K. The Marsala leather is lovely, but at $3,790 it is expensive. We also like the rear axle steering at $1,650. One option we'd definitely add is the Assistance package at $4,550 as adaptive cruise control and a surround-view camera aren't features that should be absent from a car in this price bracket.

One of the more expensive options on our car was the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control with Porsche Torque Vectoring plus at $5,010. That uses electromechanical anti-roll bars to keep the car flat no matter what you put it through. As much as we appreciate that, and the torque vectoring, we'd pass on it, as well as the Premium Package for $6,380. That adds four-zone climate control, ambient lighting plus, soft close doors, lane change assist, and heated front and rear seats.

It seems some people aren't yet convinced when it comes to hybridization. If we look at the gas-only Panamera 4S with only a 2.9L twin-turbocharged V6, we see it delivers 443 hp and 405 lb-ft of torque. In this guise, it weighs 4,336 lbs and gets to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds and on to a top speed of 183 mph.

The 4S E-Hybrid will cost $12,300 more than the Panamera 4S, or $6,100 more than the 4S Sport Turismo. For that extra sum, you get a 134 hp/295 lb-ft electric motor and a 17.9 kWh battery pack. That takes the total system output up to 552 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. You pay a 700-pound weight penalty, but the additional power easily makes up for that. The 0 to 60 mph time drops to 3.5 seconds, and the top speed increases to 182 mph. You also get an all-electric range. Then again, the normal Panamera has a larger trunk. Taking all things into account, we'd spend the extra money on the more efficient, more stylish Panamera E-Hybrid Sport Turismo.

The Cayenne E-Hybrid Coupe is available in two flavors: the base E-Hybrid, and Turbo S. The Turbo S has the same setup as the Sport Turismo, but power output is down to 670 hp and 663 lb-ft of torque. While the Cayenne Coupe might seem more practical, the battery pack harms its cargo capacity as well. Still, at 17.6 cubes, it's bigger than the Sport Turismo's trunk. The Sport Turismo is faster in a straight line, and it handles better thanks to a lower center of gravity. We understand that an SUV is more desirable than a wagon, but we prefer the uniqueness of the Sport Turismo.