So we got a 2015 Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid

With all the hoopla over higher petrol prices, there’s a lot of talk about hybrid cars in general. We’ve never had any interest in the Porsche Panamera before, for obvious reasons, but when the Dubai dealership offered us a plug-in hybrid version of the same car, we were all for trying it out, especially since we had the car for the better part of a week to put it through various scenarios.

Aside from a few tweaks to the bumpers and light clusters, the styling hasn’t changed since the Panamera debuted half a decade ago. It still elicits mixed reactions from the general public, but one thing’s for sure — nobody mistakes it for a hotel limo like they do with, say, a BMW 7-Series. And the E-Hybrid stands out more with its green brake calipers.

The Panamera was the first Porsche to have the interior style you see here, after which every new Porsche from the 911 to the Macan got something similar. It looks great, if not entirely practical.

The boot is shallower than in a regular Panamera, on account of all the batteries taking up space underneath the load floor.

Another way to spot an E-Hybrid is by the two refueling ports, one on each side. The right one is for petrol, while the left one is for the electric charging plug.

So does the traditionally-sporty Panamera lose any of its driving character in this hybrid version? More on that in the full review.