While Tesla may currently rule the roost when it comes to the electric vehicle revolution, iconic German brand Porsche plans to dethrone the American brand's performance title with the Taycan.
First unveiled over in Germany near the end of last year, the first Taycan has finally hit New Zealand shores, and it will on display at the Leadfoot festival for the whole weekend.
Both the Turbo (pictured) and the Turbo S offer 460kW of power from their dual-motor powertrains. However, things change when drivers play with the respective Overboost systems in each car. When activated, the Turbo offers an increased 500kW of power and 1050Nm of torque, and the Turbo S offers 560kW (750hp) of power and 850Nm of torque.
The Turbo can hurtle from 0–100km/h in 3.2 seconds, while the Turbo S does the same feat in just 2.6 seconds — one tenth quicker than a Model S P100D. Getting to 200km/h takes 10.6 seconds and 9.8 seconds, respectively, with both specs top out at 260km/h.
Powering these figures is a 93.4kWh lithium-ion battery pack with 800V architecture making it eligible for the next generation in EV car chargers. This theoretically means that the Taycan can be charged up to 80 per cent in just over 20 minutes when hooked to an advanced 270kW charger, according to Porsche. And it can suck up almost 100km worth of charge in five minutes.
What's more, it's proving to be an incredible seller around the world, Globally, there have been 30,000 pre-orders of the Taycan, so the German premium carmaker has announced it will double its first year’s production run to 40,000.
Porsche New Zealand says “our official Porsche centres are currently holding an unprecedented number of deposit paid ‘Expressions of Interest’ for the Taycan”.
“We anticipate these will start to translate into vehicle orders once detailed product information is available and customers are able to experience the Taycan first hand.”