#Hyrids

Porsche will expand its hybrid offerings into the realm of sports car in the future says the German automaker’s CEO. During the world premiere of the all-new Cayman R, Porsche Cars CEO Metthias Muller confirmed the upcoming launch of the new Panamera Hybrid as a followup to the Cayenne Hybrid. He then commented that Porsche is, “confident hybrid technology will find its way into sports cars.”

Toyota s are notoriously un-fun to drive, but the company’s new boss aims to change that, infusing some driving character into even the greenest of the brand’s beige offerings. In numerous interviews since Akio Toyoda took over at the helm of the world’s largest automaker, he has repeated that the brand needs products that are more fun to drive. More recently he even commented that company engineers have been instructed to add more excitement to the cars – especially the hybrids.

Along with the first officially showing of the new 5 Series, BMW will have on display the Concept 5 Series ActiveHybrid at the Geneva Auto Show next week. Following closely after the ActiveHybrid 7 Series and ActiveHybrid X6, the hybrid 5er gets a third hybrid setup. Powering this concept is a 300-hp inline-six mated to a twin-scroll turbocharger – the same unit found in the 535i. This is then combined with a powerful 40kW electric motor (the motor in the 7 Series hybrid is just 15 kW) enabling this version to operate as a full two-mode hybrid. As a result, the Concept 5 Series ActiveHybrid can operate on electric power, gasoline power or a combination of both. The transmission used is an eight-speed automatic.