Leading up to Porsche's launch of the new Taycan EV there was a lot of hype and speculation surrounding this car. It is Porsche's first full electric car. It had a lot to live up to since the benchmark set by Tesla was extremely high and no other mainstream car maker has even come close to matching Tesla's performance. Jaguar made an attempt at it with the iPace but it was not quite as fast as the Model X or the new Model Y. It also didn't offer the same driving range as the Tesla.
Porsche took a bit of time to develop their Taycan and made sure that it was able to match Tesla and exceed it in some areas. The two models available at the launch were named the Turbo and Turbo S. There is obviously no turbo since the car is an EV but since Porsche has used the name Turbo as part of the model line up indicating the premium specced versions Porsche decided to keep the name since it is easily recognised by many Porsche enthusiasts. The Turbo model offered 680hp and the Turbo S model offered 761hp. These two models are very quick and is the first EV in the market that came with 2 speed gearbox that allows for better cruising efficiency. Both models are extremely quick with 0-100km/h times of under 3 seconds but is still slightly slower than the Tesla Model S P100D. The main difference with the Taycan is its ability to repeat hard acceleration launches unlike the Model S which needs to cool down and need some time between launches. The Taycan is also able to hit higher top speed thanks to its 2 speed transmission.
Prior to the launch there was so much interest registered for the Taycan that Porsche received over 30,000 bookings. To achieve so many bookings prior to the launch says something about the hype around this car. Porsche is taking the fight to Tesla and have even posted the fastest production EV lap record around the Nurburgring.
The Taycan is by no means cheap and anything that carries the Porsche name is never cheap. the prices start at US$150,000 for the Turbo placing it above the Tesla Model S. The Model S is getting a bit old since its on the market since 2012. The Taycan brings a fresh look and new capability to the market. The interest for the Taycan is not likely to die down for a while since the lower models such the Taycan, Taycan S, Taycan 4S and the GTS will eventually be introduced to cater to a wider audience. It is expected that the Taycan and Taycan S will be the most popular models as the prices will be cheaper. A cross over model will also be introduced in the next 12 months.
It is a bold move by Porsche to launch this model but has been speculated for over a year that this model was to be launched in 2019. The special 800 volt charging system is also the world's first that allows charging from 5% to 80% in 30 minutes. All other car makers who have an EV model do not have such fast charging capacity. The closest is Audi with similar charging capacity taking 40 minutes.
With more EV models hitting the market the EV industry will get more interesting. Tesla made EVs interesting and shook the stigma of EV's being like a big golf cart. Now Porsche made is exciting with fast, sporty and stylish.
Watch this space for more things to come in the EV world.
