The Porsche Taycan surges into the history books. Porsche’s premier electric sportscar, sets a record for the fastest lap by a four-door electric car, at the coveted Nürburgring in Germany. Although the record is a few distinctions shy of being outrageously specific, it’s still exciting, nonetheless. We know automakers love their bragging rights, and Porsche’s Taycan proves that electric doesn’t have to slow you down.
Introducing The Taycan
The Taycan serves as the first competitor to the Tesla line. Porches’ very first all-electrical car is a sleek, fiery sports coupe that adds to its long history of high-performance branded vehicles.
Two Amazing Models
There are currently two models available on the market, the Taycan Turbo, and the Taycan Turbo S. Although there are plans for the line up to grow to several models in the coming years, we’re pretty sure these two will hold us over in the meantime.
Power, Performance, and Charge
The Turbo and the Turbo S can achieve a whopping 670 and 750 horsepower respectively. Each maximum horsepower lasts for around two seconds. Both models are designed to then cut the horsepower to the lower 600 range to preserve the drivetrain. It’s not unheard of for electric vehicles to lose speed when battery life gets low, but Porsche promises to execute a series of launches that offer consistent performance comparable to their other models.
The Taycan is the first EV with around an 800-volt electrical circuitry system. The system allows for fast and intense charging that can charge a battery from 5% to almost full life in under 25 minutes. On the flip side, only a handful of 800-volt DCs exist. Making the most out of this charging feature will require some extra digging. The 400-volt DC fast charger is more common but limited to around 50 kilowatts of power.
Comfort and Interior
The Taycan’s interior offers ample space, especially given its sleek and low roofline. A Tesla feels slightly more spacious, but a tall person can fit securely in both the front and back seats. In both models, a four-seat configuration is standard.
However, a third center seat can be added at an extra cost. Porsche interestingly calls the third seat configuration, the 2+1 configuration. This is due to the center seat being optimized for shorter passengers.
The cargo space in a Taycan provides ample room. This space is shared between a small front compartment and the trunk.
Connected Devices and Entertainment
The Taycan offers built-in satellite radio, Apple CarPlay, and Bluetooth. The cherry on top for Apple subscribers is the Taycan’s built-in Apple music compatibility. The Taycan is the very first car to be able to stream Apple Music from its interface without needing to pair a phone.
The three-screen dashboard includes an entertainment touchscreen, a climate control touchscreen interface, and a glass instrument panel. If even after all these features you are still willing to go the extra mile, there’s an optional thousand-dollar display that adds one additional screen to the mix.
Fast But Not So Fast (Yet)
Electric cars are sure to edge their way into the record books. But there is still a lot of progress ahead. The Taycan’s record is impressive but not groundbreaking. it’s a heavy 20 seconds slower than two of Porches’ combustion engine models: The Carrera GTS and the 911 GT2 RS. And It is two minutes slower than the record set by Porches’ 919 Hybrid EVO.
With this being said the Taycan is still faster than a number of other EV models and remains a decent effort in the production of four-door electric sportscars.