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Even a 15-minute run in the passenger seat was enough to prove that you can combine electricity and fun. Photo Gallery
Karla Pincott gets a taste of Porsche's electric car program at Michelin Challenge Bibendum in Berlin.
There's a future for the electric car if they can make it as sporty as the two Porsche Boxster plug-ins at Challenge Bibendum.
We went for a short passenger-seat taste – there was no way we could wheedle a spot behind the wheel from the engineer/handlers – and even that 15-minute run was enough to prove that you can combine electricity and fun.
The pair in Berlin feature a lithium-ion battery pack and an electric motors with power output of 90kW and 270Nm of torque. Porsche says this gets to 100km/h in what sounds like an uninspiring 9.8 seconds, and a top speed of 150km/h.
But that was enough to swing smartly around the test track once you got going.
And waiting in the wings is a 4WD version, with a motor on each axles, which will do 0-100km/h in a much more Porsche-like 5.5 seconds, and hit a top speed of 200km/h.
The power plant follows the Boxster’s traditional mid-engine plan, and this – coupled with its placement for a low centre of gravity – helps with the handling and sporty feel.
Porsche stresses that the Boxsters are pure research vehicles, "being used to explore the everyday practicality of all-electric vehicles and how they are used".
But if this is how they can be used, bring them to market we say. And it’s likely that’s just what Porsche intends.
