The German brand’s first ever all electric car proves there’s no compromise when it comes to its heritage

When Porsche decided to move into the electric car segment with the Taycan there was one caveat, it had to stay true to its sports car heritage. But has it succeeded? 

Porsche revealed the Taycan a year ago in Europe after previewing the Mission E concept in 2015.  

Porsche New Zealand has a small number of display vehicles that have recently arrived and are currently touring Porsche Centres, with first customer deliveries expected late in the fourth quarter of this year and early 2021.

There are three models available, the 4S (from $203,900), the Turbo at $289,900 and top spec Turbo S from $366,900.

And before you say that you can’t call a non-internal combustion engine a ‘turbo’, Porsche has the answer to that.

Since it first arrived on the 911 in 1974, Turbo has become a sub-brand, denoting the fastest models in every model-line.

AutoMuse had the Taycan Turbo for four days and despite what the ‘Teslerati’ say about the price and range of the Model S, Porsche has it all over the American brand.

That’s because it stayed true to the caveat of being a sports car.

Outside, it looks like an elongated 911 rather than a small Panamera sedan, while inside it looks like every other Porsche, down to the drive mode dial on the steering wheel, that scrolls through five settings: Range (like an eco mode), Normal, Sport, Sport Plus and Individual.

It has a 93.4kWh lithium-ion battery producing up to 500kW of power and 850Nm of torque, with 0-100km/h in 3.2 seconds and top speed of 260 km/h.

Based on a new ‘J1’ platform, the battery sits between the two axles, each with a motor attached, four-wheel steering, suspension loosely related to the Panamera and a rear-mounted two-speed gearbox allowing the Taycan to reach its accelerative potential from take-off, but boost efficiency once you’re up and running.

Range is up to 450 kilometres for the Turbo but many factors can affect it before you start, such as the weather and the use of air conditioning.

In range mode, you can put the air con system into eco plus mode and that has a substantial impact on the range. For example, when I picked up the Taycan I had 420km of range, turning up the air conditioning had me deplete 10km, but in eco plus mode I was back up to 420km.

I gave it the ultimate endorsement test; driving it along Auckland’s Ponsonby Road to see how many people stared at it.

Just a few metres onto the busy shopping street and one person was about to take a sip of coffee when I drove past, and he stared at the car, his mouth agape. Hopefully he didn’t spill his coffee! At least 40 people did double takes – because it looks like a Porsche but with no sound!

To take into consideration pedestrians such as that Porsche fan, the brand has added Electric Sport Sound. Personally I thought it sounded like a ghost convention … WOOOOO!

As I kept thinking (and telling anyone who listened) during our four-day test there is no compromise, this is a Porsche sports car. Dial in Sport and you feel that power and overtaking can be too brisk with our now zero tolerance speed limit. But if you really want to have fun, select Sport Plus and start from zero, like a motorway onramp - and you get pushed back into your seat. 

Thanks to Porsche’s ethos of it being a sports car the handling and steering of the Taycan is what you’d expect from this brand; in Sport mode around winding country roads to Parihoa for the photo shoot, the car hugged the curves, giving a dynamic drive and that’s also down to the fact that it’s centre of gravity is lower than a 911.

The 2 + 2 seater has enough leg and head-room for four adults while the boot has space for two suitcases at least and the front boot can easily fit a weekend bag.

There is one downside to Porsche’s promise and that’s only one level of regeneration, via the touchscreen, and only in Charge and Normal mode. In Recuperation mode when you take your foot off the accelerator, it eases off the power and helps you lessen the decrease in range, rather than maintain it or even add to it as you would in Audi’s e-tron electric SUV.

Porsche NZ says the reason that the Taycan doesn't have a three level system via steering wheel paddles like the e-tron is again that it is saying true to being a sports car. Fair enough.

I think the majority of buyers will be existing Porsche customers who will use the Taycan as an every day drive (and topping up the battery one a week at home) while they’ll have a Porsche Macan or Cayenne for trips to the holiday home, or the 911 for a weekend drives.