Porsche gears up for electric road trip across Siberia

A group of journalists are on a road adventure across Siberia driving the first-ever rechargeable Porsche cars. The crew were chosen to test-drive the plug-in hybrids on a 7,000km route from Irkutsk to Ekaterinburg over the course of 12 days.

Organised by Porsche Russland, the aim of the expedition is to show how well the cars can adapt to the peculiarities of the Siberian weather, and landscape. Along the way they will pass through Novosibirsk, Tobolsk and UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as the Stolby Nature Sanctuary.

Dubbed 'Plug in to Siberia', the trip sees the group driving the world's first luxury electric Porsche Panamera, as well as the Porsche Cayenne SUV.

Porsche Panamera is kitted out with Michelin studless tyres, specially designed for powerful high-performance cars. The main advantages are to reduce braking distances on wet and snowy surfaces and give rapid acceleration on the snow and ice, as well as improved handling on winter roads – perfect for the Siberian climate.

TV Channel Auto24 is on the trip and will release a video about the special test-drive on March 10, a few days after the journey ends.

Porsche Russland was created in 2003 and now has 21 dealer centres nationwide.