The Porsche Taycan Is The Best Electric Car So Far
Porsche builds truly world class sports cars – this is important to know. When the company developed an SUV back in 2002 it was a seismic shift for the brand; 18 years later Porsche now has an electric, four-door saloon in its showrooms – a car a million miles away from the brand’s area of expertise.
However, the Taycan is no ordinary electric car. It’s the product of a multi-billion euro investment and the first of an army of electrically-powered Porsches.
Beneath its sleek, sculpted body sits a huge lithium-ion battery that powers two electric motors, one on each axle, to give four-wheel drive. As the flagship Turbo S variant, the Taycan develops 750bhp – that makes it the most powerful Porsche you can buy today. Providing you have £138,830. The sensible models come in at a more digestible £83,580.
The question is, despite bearing no resemblance to what you might expect a Porsche to be, does it still feel like one? The answer is absolutely.
Despite the Taycan weighing over 2,200kg, a huge chunk of that weight is located low down in the floor of the car. That significantly reduces the car’s centre of gravity and therefore greatly improves its agility. Think of it as the automotive equivalent of Chris Hoy – 100kg of concentrated muscle with explosive power.
Accelerating from 0-62mph in a Taycan is a mind-bending experience – there is no car on earth that can catapult itself down the road like a Taycan. Porsche says 0-62mph takes 2.8 seconds but it’s the car’s overtaking ability that impresses most – pin the throttle at 40mph and by the time you’ve said “Oh my …” you’re at license-losing speeds.
But the Taycan is an EV that does speed and grace, because it’s a perfectly judged GT car that can eat up the miles (around 250 in the real world) and massage your back at the same time. Seriously, massage seats are a £1,422 option.
