IN DETAIL
Further, faster, smarter – Porsche overhauls its electric flagship
THE INNOVATIONS TRANSFORMING OUR DRIVING WORLD
MIGHTY MOTORS
New-generation e-motors are lighter, punchier and smaller and, when combined, develop up to 939bhp in the Turbo S
RIDE AND STRIDE
Air suspension's now standard, and new leaning/ tilting Active Ride tech from Panamera is designed to kill pitch and roll
Somehow the Taycan is already more than three years old. In that time it has shifted some 150,000 units globally and, in the UK, leapfrogged the 911 to regularly run the Macan SUV close for the title of best-selling Porsche. Previewed as the sleek Mission E, the car’s first iteration made going electric look easy. Which it isn’t. Just ask VW.
Now, with the electric Macan imminent, Porsche has taken the time to upgrade the Taycan with a classic Porsche facelift – spot-the-difference exterior tweaks on top of some serious re-engineering under the skin. The price is up, to £86,500 (from £79,200) for the rear-drive car, to £95,900 (from £90,700) for the popular 4S and to £161,400 (up from £148,300) for the flagship Turbo S. Fortunately so too are efficiency, range, power and standard equipment…
The new Taycan gets a chunk more range thanks to increased efficiency and an upgrade for Performance Battery Plus, up to 105kWh gross and 97kWh usable. It flows energy to (and from) a new lighter, more compact and more powerful electric motor, driving a car that’s a smidge lighter than the first-gen Taycan (by around 15kg, despite a more lavish level of standard kit) and a good chunk more efficient. WLTP power consumption is now 3.45 miles per kWh for the tyre-melting Turbo S (versus 2.84 miles per kWh previously) and 3.72 miles per kWh (versus 3.17) for the charge-sipping, single-motor Taycan. Together with the bigger battery, that means range is up by around 35%. The flagship Turbo S saloon goes from 291 miles to 391 miles WLTP, while the single-motor, rear-drive Taycan with the optional bigger battery climbs from around 313 miles to a hefty 421.
‘Do they, though?’ I hear you cry, and congratulations on your healthy cynicism. And the answer of course is no, they do not. The true figure? Driving a prototype single-motor car on low-drag 19-inch wheels we managed 365 miles and 3.6 miles per kWh. That’s not 421 miles or 3.72 miles per kWh, granted, but it’s within a sniff of the official figures and impressive both a) versus the first-gen car and b) for a high-performance EV.
NEW HARDWARE
All-new, and with new cell chemistry, the uprated Performance Battery Plus (below) offers increased power density, the ability to flow more current and reduced sensitivity to temperature (the new pack can fast-charge from just 15°C, versus 35°C for the previous car, and the car is also able to warm and cool the battery more quickly
