After years of 'Mission E' concepts, teasers, camouflaged mules and Nürburgring lap-times, Porsche has finally whipped the covers off its four-door fully electric sports car — the Taycan.
Unveiled overnight in Frankfurt, Porsche has shown off two different models of the EV; the Turbo and the Turbo S (and yes, neither of them come with a Turbo). These are the first models that will be available globally, with other models — including the Cross Turismo wagon — to come afterwards.
In terms of looks, the Taycan is unmistakably Porsche. It's an unveiling that is almost a complete reversal of what things were like when Porsche first showed off the Panamera. There, the Panamera was lambasted for its oddball proportions and wannabe 911 elements. Here, Porsche has clearly learned in designing something that mirrors the 911's understatement, familiarity, and visual lightness.
But there's not much new stuff in the Taycan's appearance. After all it's very similar to that of the Mission E concept car. The interesting stuff from the reveal is the stats, specs, and power.
Both the Turbo 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.
Read more: Porsche confirms its electric Taycan is bloody fast with 7:42 Nürburgring lap-time
Those bench-marking the Taycan against a Tesla Model S will be curious to know that the top-spec P100D makes exactly the same power as the Turbo S. Guess we can tell what the Taycan was designed to stack up against, eh ...
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.
A 150kW DC fastcharger will get the Taycan to 80 per cent charge in 36 minutes, while a simple 9.6kW connection will perform the same measure in 11 hours. All up, with some help from a sleek 0.22 drag coefficient, the Taycan is good for a claimed driving range of 450km (Turbo) and 412km (Turbo S) respectively according to WLTP figures. Expect some of the models still to come to have even longer range potential.
The aforementioned Tesla Model S P100D comes with a range of 500km, for those making the comparison still. Dimensionally, the pairing is almost identical. The Taycan's length width and wheelbase (4963mm/1966mm/2900mm) close to mirrors that of the Tesla (4980mm/1964mm/2960mm).
The interior will be familiar to anyone that's sat in a Porsche lately. No enormous tablet screen or psychedelic futuristic layout here (at least not yet). Porsche have instead given the Taycan a cabin that fits in with the rest of the brand's offerings.
The most futuristic element is the optional passenger display, which supplements the primary 10.9-inch infotainment screen and the secondary screen for aircon adjustment and the like. Porsche has also implemented a voice-activated interface similar to the 'Hey Mercedes' and 'Hey BMW' systems used by its peers. Here, naturally, it's triggered by 'Hey Porsche'.
As previously reported, it's been confirmed that the Porsche Taycan will be joining the brand's New Zealand line-up. And, local demand has already been "unprecedented".
"Our official Porsche centres are currently holding an unprecedented number of deposit paid ‘Expressions of Interest’ for the Taycan," Porsche New Zealand recently said.
"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."
Porsche claims that there has already been 30,000 pre-orders placed globally for the new Taycan, with production ramped up to a projected output of 40,000 in the first year.
Pricing in New Zealand has yet to be confirmed. However, American pricing for the Turbo and Turbo S has been released — the pair sitting at US$153,310 and US$187,610 respectively.
