We road-test the long-awaited, all-electric Porsche Taycan

Turn on the “Sports Sound”, if you must – but this quiet achiever can take everything thrown at it.

Drive it has hard as you possibly can. Do as many launch control starts as you like. See you on the other side of Germany.”

They’re not the official instructions you might expect for a completely new model, and certainly not for an electric car. But the suggestion here was pretty clear. The Taycan sedan – perhaps the most eagerly anticipated car of the electric revolution – is driven solely by batteries, and weighs 2.3 tonnes as a result. But it can do anything any other Porsche does.

We took up the challenge during the Australian media’s first chance behind the wheel, pushing the Taycan hard over a wide range of roads and very changeable conditions (dry, moist and soaking). We used the launch control system to maximise the blast from rest to 100 km/h and well beyond. We cruised at close to the 260 km/h top speed on the unrestricted autobahns. We covered 750 kilometres on a circuitous route from Munich to Berlin and the only problem encountered was with the optional passenger instrument panel, which sometimes turned off for reasons not entirely obvious.

The only other Porsche as quick off the mark is the GT2 RS, at $645,000.

Based on the European price, the range-topping Turbo S will likely cost $350,000 when it arrives here in about 12 months. A base model will perhaps be in the low $200s but, in keeping with marketing tradition, only the dearer variants (Turbo and Turbo S) are being offered while the car is new and demand is at its highest.

There is no turbocharger in an electric car, of course, but Porsche says the word has always been associated with the premium version of their model lines, and they’re going to stick with it.

The styling of the Taycan (pronounced Tie, as in neck, and Cannes, as in French Riviera) is not as extreme as the Mission E concept that previewed it in 2015. It does without the suicide doors, as engineers couldn’t achieve the necessary body stiffness without a B-pillar, but it does capture the stunning proportions.

The low body delivers a Porsche 911-style driving position, though that also means it’s more a sports car than a family sedan to climb out of. The boot is big and the rear-seat passengers have reasonable space, thanks partly to what Porsche calls “foot garages”. These are the gaps between the floor-mounted batteries that provide depressions for the passengers’ feet.

Total power from the two motors – one fore, one aft – is 460 kW but when the launch control is used, the “overboost” increases that to 560 kW. Combined with the monumental 1050 Nm available from rest, and all-wheel drive, this hurls the Turbo S to 100 km/h in 2.8 seconds.

The only other Porsche as quick off the mark is the GT2 RS, at $645,000.

The whiplash violence of the Taycan Turbo S acceleration isn’t accompanied by any drama at the steering wheel. Porsche engineers say the all-wheel drive adapts (by moving torque between front and back) five times as quickly as in any conventionally powered Porsche, and the traction control is 10 times quicker.

Does the Taycan spell the end of the petrol sports car? Not at $350,000.

That’s easy to believe, so controllable is it under full acceleration even on a wet road. Because the weight is mounted so low you are hardly conscious of it shifting as you change direction. The Taycan corners beautifully, reacting immediately to your inputs, remaining stable because the power delivery is so smooth, so linear and so lag-free.

Taycan uses an 800-volt electrical system and, with a fast charger, can go from 5 per cent to 80 per cent during a coffee stop (the official recharge time is 22.5 minutes between these two points). Because of the enormous braking regeneration, the range is noticeably higher in the city than the country. The Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) figures suggest an urban range of 433 to 473 kilometres, compared with 340 km for the highway.

The sound – or near lack thereof – is hard to reconcile with a sports car. There is an optional Electric Sports Sound – which sounds artificial, and is artificial. It’s best turned off.

The interior is clean and well-designed with a beautiful curved digital instrument panel and classy looking seats. However, these weren’t as comfortable as expected. The door-trims, with their thin grab handles and generic window switches, feel more VW Golf than $350K Porsche, and elsewhere there isn’t the richness of materials that you might expect for such a monumental price.

Does the Taycan spell the end of the petrol sports car? Not at $350,000, certainly. There’ll be a trickle-down effect of the technology, but price will remain the main stumbling block for any electric car for the next few years. The Taycan, however, is the beginning of the end: it proves a thoroughly convincing sports car doesn’t need a V12, a V8 or even a horizontally opposed six. It doesn’t need a single cylinder. It scarcely needs to make a sound.

PORSCHE TAYCAN TURBO S
Price $350,000 (estimate, excluding on-road costs and options)
Engine Dual electric motors with 83.7 kWh net battery capacity
Power/torque 560 kW/1050 Nm (see text)
Range 388-412 km (combined cycle, WLTP)
CO₂ 0 g/km (at “tailpipe”)

The writer drove this car in Europe as a guest of the manufacturer.

Article Credit: Tony Davis 
Full Article:  https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/cars-bikes-and-boats/we-road-test-the-long-awaited-all-electric-porsche-taycan-20191007-p52y8s