Panamera Turbo

Make
Porsche
Segment
Sedan

Italian styling house Pininfarina and its newest partner, Hybrid Kinetic Group, may not be on a two-man mission to revolutionize electric car technology, but the duo does have the capacity to change the course of EV history forever by pulling off a seemingly difficult task: adding to the small but growing number of electric cars that are both practical and attractive. Until recently, automakers have felt the need to build electric cars that look futuristic to a polarizing extent.

Thanks to this modern take on the classical luxury sports car, the HKG H600 by Pininfarina commits no such offense. In fact, Pininfarina and HKG wanted to make the H600 as palatable as possible, with the two key words outlining the design language being "luxury" and "internationality." The target audience for this car is a businessperson who takes pleasure in style, detail, and precious materials. The H600 is intended to meet all of these marks while being able to sustainably waft through the streets of Hong Kong, New York, Milan, or Shanghai. The eco narrative is pulled together thanks to the combination of a permanent magnet motor mated to a gearbox with a micro turbine range-extender put in place.

This modification turns the H600 into a luxury hybrid that frees the driver up from the headache of finding a charger or having to take another car when planning a long road trip. Combined, the electric motors can propel the sedan for about 620 miles before needing a recharge and a range-extender top off. The hybrid duo is powerful too, churning out a total of 800 horsepower (take that Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid) and reserving the ability to swat down plenty of sports car competitors by lugging the 4,114-pound (dry weight) luxury sedan on a wild ride from 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds on its way to a 156 mph top speed. That kind of performance can be attributed to the all-wheel drive system that includes torque vectoring.

Despite being heavy, the H600 is relatively light for its size, which fills a footprint larger than that of a Cadillac CT6 or Mercedes S-Class. For that magic trick we can thank the extensive use of aluminum, which is what the chassis is made of although a weight distribution of 52% front and 48% rear means it's not exactly the machine you want for some sideways action. Rather, this is more of a four-door grand tourer that features a minimal carbon footprint, a fast acceleration and high top speed, and detailed luxury amenities inside to compliment the sleek exterior lines and the large grille that pipes in the air required to feed the turbine engine.

These interior goodies include a glazed surface on the roof to allow natural light into the cabin while piping in artificial light at night, an open lounge interior layout facilitating comfort, habitability, and openness, and premium touch surfaces that include leather, veneered wood, wood grain, ambient lighting bands, and a clock embedded in the center control panel. Hopefully HKG and Pininfarina's infotainment design is up to the task of rendering all competitors obsolete. An attempt at this is made using a large screen that cuts across the fascia to entertain the passenger and inform the driver while a large center touchpad separates the driver and passenger and houses all of the vehicle's functions.

Rear seat passengers are treated to dual screens in the back because heaven forbid thy can't check Facebook in a modern hybrid vehicle. As a concept car and not a production model, it's unclear whether this will even make production and if so, when it will come to market. At least these images should help stoke the fire in your imagination.