Rev up your PHEVs – these electron-enhanced thrillers are around the corner

So, it seems that the wave of EV uptake is tapering off somewhat as consumers adjust their expectations and manufacturers adjust their product plans to suit. Hybrids are about to experience a renaissance as a result – particularly more heavily-electrified plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) – but while the first generation of performance EVs like the Porsche Taycan, Tesla Model S Plaid and Hyundai Ioniq 5 N proved you could indeed have fun in a pure EV, what’s in the PHEV pipeline that can electrify a petrolhead’s pulse?

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2025 Lamborghini Revuelto

It’s rather shocking that Lamborghini has found a way to keep a naturally-aspirated V12 in production this deep into the 2020s, let alone discovered a means to ensure it stays on the right side of emissions laws for the foreseeable.

Said V12 is found nestled into the rear half of Lambo’s next hypercar flagship, the Revuelto, which takes over from the Aventador as the brand’s hi-po halo. Displacing 6.5 litres, revving to 9250rpm and producing 607kW/725Nm by itself, the Revuelto’s V12 sonics aren’t strangled by the presence of turbochargers. Performance is, however, aided by a trio of electric motors (one for each front wheel, and one driving the rear wheels via the transmission) to produce a whopping 746kW/1500Nm combined output.

The zero-to-hundred flashes by in just 2.5 seconds, but the real party trick is its handling. With the triple-motor arrangement now bringing in some clever torque-vectoring opportunities for the front axle, the Revuelto is well and truly a better performance car by virtue of its electrification. Wanna know how it drives? Read our review below.

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2026 Lamborghini Temerario

Lamborghini is embracing electrification in a big way, with the Huracan-replacing Temerario now revealed in all of its electron-enhanced glory. Lambo purists may raise an eyebrow at its unorthodox (well, unorthodox for a Lamborghini supercar anyway) turbo V8 combustion engine, but they’ll certainly clap at its banshee 10,000rpm redline and 676kW combined power output.

Also worthy of applause is a 2.7-second 0-100km/h sprint time and the physics-bending handling advantage of all-wheel torque vectoring courtesy of a triple-motor electric drivetrain, just like its bigger bro the Revuelto. It’s even relatively svelte at 1690kg, though that tiny 3.8kWh battery is a little short on treehugger credentials. We have a hunch that long-distance all-electric cruising is not a priority.

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2025 BMW M5

It’ll cost more than a quarter of a million bucks when it lands in Australia toward the end of this year, but the next-generation BMW M5 will offer electrically-enhanced performance that’ll floor you just as hard as its $259,900 pricetag.

Its engine won’t be downsized either. A 430kW/750Nm twin-turbo 4.4-litre bent-eight will continue to power the M5, but for the new-gen G90 model it gets a helping hand from a 145kW/280Nm permanent-magnet electric motor and a 18.6kWh battery pack, with all of that grunt being sent to all four wheels via a ZF eight-speed auto.

Performance is suitably brisk at 3.5 seconds to 100km/h from a standstill, but curiously that’s actually 0.2 seconds slower than its predecessor. Why? Blame a kerb weight of 2.5 tonnes, which blunts the performance added by the additional electro bits.

A sideways move, performance-wise? Maybe, but this M5 will at least be able to drive for nearly 70km on electric power alone and consume just 1.7L/100km on the WLTP combined cycle, while falling well within the tough CO2 limits of Australia’s incoming NVES legislation. The best part? There's going to be a wagon version too.

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2025 Cupra Leon VZe

An oft-forgotten choice in the hot hatch realm, Cupra’s Leon range will receive a facelift – and a tasty wagon-bodied Sportstourer variant – in 2025 that will deliver a 20kW power boost for the VZe PHEV variant, taking it to a fairly spicy 200kW of combined petro-electro power. Not bad for a 1.4-litre turbo bum-dragger.

A new 19.7kWh battery will also be grafted in, lifting the Leon VZe’s all-electric range to a very useful 100km – more than enough range to save all of your precious hydrocarbons for where they truly matter: a twisty road in the middle of nowhere.

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2025 Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid

Sorry, was the 500kW/930Nm Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid not mad enough for you? Perhaps you’ll be interested in its brawnier bro, the Turbo S E-Hybrid that’s due to land before the end of 2024. With a combined output of 575kW and 1000Nm (“1.0 kilonewtons” sounds cooler) from its juiced-up 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 and electric motor, the Turbo S E-Hybrid is the fastest executive car around the Nurburgring - and not a bad way of vaporising half a million dollars.

Will it save the planet? That entirely depends on how you much you leverage its 25.9kWh battery and 92km EV range.

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2025 Ford Ranger PHEV

Fond of exploring nature but not fond of choking it with a cloud of CO2? The first plug-in Ford Ranger promises to be as gentle on the environment as an actual park ranger, by virtue of its 11.8kWh battery, 75kW electric drive motor and 45km all-electric driving range.

Sure, it won’t give you enough battery range to travel deep into the wilds without burning any petrol at all, but it should tread lighter than your average ute. Besides, with a robust 3500kg tow rating, huge 690Nm peak torque output (that’s more than the Ranger Raptor), and 205kW power output, you can rest assured it’ll be able to do whatever ‘ute stuff’ you want it to.

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202X? Mitsubishi Outlander Evolution

Mitsubishi has been making rumblings of a return for its retired Ralliart performance arm, and it’s told us that the next model to be gifted the Ralliart treatment will be… the Outlander?

It’s a bit like your mum telling you she’s getting into bodybuilding competitions and ultramarathons, but Mitsubishi reckons it can tone its Outlander family hauler into a decent performance car – and it’ll be using the plug-in hybrid version of the Outlander as the basis for it, too.

It’s going to be nothing like the Lancer Evolutions you all no doubt picture when you visualise the Ralliart name, but the company’s performance boffins are confident they can make the big Outlander Evolution boogie – with a little help from a triple-motor configuration, air suspension and some sophisticated chassis electronics. Mitsubishi’s head of Ralliart told us that it’ll be fast - no matter what surface you choose to drive it on - and that prototypes are already Scandinavian-flicking their way around its Japanese proving grounds.