Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo

The Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo concept is more than just a Panamera estate. It showcases Porsche's latest plug-in hybrid technology, coming soon to a sports car near you.

If the Cayenne 4x4 took the basic design language of the Porsche 911 and added five doors and extra ground clearance, the Panamera Sport Turismo brings that same Cayenne back down to earth.

The result is a luxury car with hatchback practicality; you could fit a couple of labradors in the back - although few potential owners seem likely to.

The car's nose echoes the new Boxster, with LED headlights and C-shaped sidelights housed in the front air intakes. There are no door mirrors - just tiny cameras - while at the rear an adaptive carbon spoiler shades LED rear lights.

Open the tailgate and the batteries are visible through the electrochromatic glass of the boot floor. Press a button and they are bathed in an 'acid green' glow. Pointless, but cool. In the cabin, a large central TFT colour display replaces the traditional instruments, and can be used to call up any driving info as needed, from the rev counter to the sat nav. Two monitors show images from the exterior cameras, while a 'power meter' displays the combined system power of the petrol engine and batteries.

The lucky Panamera Sport Turismo driver can even control many of the car's functions via a smart phone app. Charge control by mobile phone shows how much time the car needs to fully charge, and allows the cabin to be heated or cooled in advance.

The Sport Turismo uses a more advanced, plug-in version of the hybrid system already seen in the Panamera and Cayenne. It combines a 245bhp supercharged V6 petrol engine with a 95bhp electric motor to accelerate the car to 62mph (100kph) in less than six seconds - and emit a remarkable 82g/km of CO2 on the EU test cycle. That, we believe, is known as having your cake and eating it. In pure electric mode, the car can travel at speeds up to 80mph and cover around 18 miles before the petrol engine cuts in. Charging takes as little as 2.5 hours, depending on the power supply.

You can't. But expect this technology to filter down to Porsche's production cars over the next five years. And don't be surpised if an 'estate' version of the Panamera is launched to take on the Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake - another car that made its debut at the 2012 Paris Motor Show.