How can a small niche carmaker such as Porsche be able to develop such a complicated, expensive powertrain?
By hitching its star to Volkswagen, that's how. Or, more accurately, because its star is really guiding Volkswagen; Porsche actually has controlling interest in Volkswagen AG these days. And since a company the size of VW has the resources to develop such a powertrain, Porsche can use the fruits of their engineering experience in its models as well.
"Porsche's low volume means we're limited in our research and development," says Porsche executive Bernd Harling, interviewed while watching testing of new Porsches at a racetrack in Alabama. "We must focus on what we can do best."
What Porsche does best is to make thrilling performance-oriented cars and SUVs powered by gasoline engines, and it has been doing that for years. But by adding VW's hybrid powertrain to the mix (expected by 2009 or so), it opens the door to new sales avenues as well. In fact, there's even talk of adding one of VW's diesels to the list of engines offered.
Don't think that Porsche just sat around waiting for VW to do its thing with regards to hybrids. Porsche actually helped develop much of the engineering surrounding Audi's forthcoming Q7 hybrid SUV, since it designed the basic structure of that vehicle when it built the Porsche Cayenne.
Now Porsche will take that system used in the Q7 and adapt it to the Cayenne and Panamera. This will be a full-hybrid system that will allow the car to run in electric-only mode at speeds below 20 mph for a certain length of time.
Porsche doesn't expect the hybrid versions to be big sellers, but it feels that the hybrids will insulate them from environmental criticism.
"Regardless of whether we use a diesel or a hybrid or hydrogen for power ... the heart of Porsche is to shoot for a limited volume of people who want the handling of a great sports car," Harling said.