All in a day’s work

Plug-in powertrain and estate body combine to take the strain out of a busy day’s professional 911-worship.

1 MAKE A CLEAN START

120-mile round trip from Rutland to near Tamworth in the 508 Sport Engineered to drive and photograph a Porsche 911. Overnight home-charge has the 11.5kWh battery topped – o cially enough for 26 zero-emissions miles on the o cial WLTP cycle before petrol kicks in.

2 START YOUR ENGINES

I’ve squeezed 21 electric miles out of the 508 before, but today it’s mid-teens and almost empty after a cross-country jaunt to the morning queue in Melton Mowbray. I’ll be way o the o cial 138.9mpg today, but at least we’re emissions-free through town.

3 IT’S SPORT ENGINEERED

Decent cross-country route spoiled by HGV-based tailbacks, but selecting Sport takes me past a queue like I’ve lit the afterburners – you’d guess at more than a 355bhp powertrain towing 1895kg. Always feels wrong thrashing a plug-in hybrid that’s out of charge, though.

4 AND RELAX

Two complaints with Sport mode: you can’t lock auto gears in manual, and the suspension defaults to super-sti . At least standard massage seats soothe the latter. Double-push a button and it’s like an over-friendly puss without the claws padding your back.

5 DREAM TWO CAR GARAGE?

A chance to drive a gorgeous air-cooled 993 from Avantgarde Classics. Porsche fans struggled with the switch from air to water cooling 20 years ago, but there’s a high chance of 993 owners daily-driving a PHEV or EV today.

6 MAN AT WORK

O cially the estate’s 530-litre boot is a modest 43 litres larger than a saloon’s. But photographer Ali Cusick couldn’t shoot from a saloon so easily, plus the SW has aluminium rails to harness him to. Probably not what the estate car’s designers had in mind, admittedly.