Amit Saraswat 
Not-so-new exterior
The 3rd gen Panamera carries on the evolutionary design language, which doesn’t look much different from the model it’s about to replace. The overall silhouette and character lines of the Panamera remain the same, albeit with a few modifications in dimensions. Up front, the new Panamera boasts tweaked LED headlights and an additional air intake sitting above the registration plate to feed more air to the more efficient powertrains. At the side, it features a revised window line and a new set of alloy wheels.
Premium interior, now digitalised
The 3rd gen Panamera puts the driver at focus and boasts high-quality materials all around. The dashboard is heavily digitalised, featuring up to 3 screens, should you wish to opt for the optional passenger entertainment display. It sports a curved digital instrument cluster, doing away with a physical tachometer.
Porsche has also decluttered the dashboard layout by trading the conventional gear selector for a stubby gear lever, which is located near the steering wheel. The freed-up space in the centre console now incorporates capacitive controls for the air-con. With the 3rd-gen model, Porsche has also put emphasis on seating comfort as much as sporty dynamics. Porsche has used improved seat form material, which increases comfort as well as elasticity. Buyers seeking more comfort for the rear seats can go for the Executive models, which offer a newly contoured rear seat system with an optimised seating position.
Distinctive Panamera Turbo E-hybrid
For the turbo E-hybrid, which denotes the high-performance plug-in-hybrid model, Porsche has used a distinctive design. To begin with, the new Panamera Turbo E-hybrid gets different front and rear aprons with a coloured rear diffuser. It also boasts chrome-plated tailpipes in dark bronze colour and centre-lock wheels. It also features an exclusive Turbonite colour, which is used as a contrast for side window stripes.
The new plug-in-hybrid powertrain is more efficient than before. It uses a revised 4.0L turbo V8 engine, which mated to the electric motor, puts out 680PS of power and 930Nm of torque. The electric motor is combined with an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. A 25.9kWh battery pack feeds power to the electric motor, promising an electric-only range of 91km on a single charge. Users will get the only option to charge the battery via an 11kW AC charger, which takes 2 hours and 39 minutes.
