Porsche Set To Take On Tesla With New Taycan

After months of speculation, the wraps finally came off the highly anticipated Porsche Taycan recently. The Taycan represents a major moment for the illustrious German manufacturer as it moves into electric vehicles for the first time.

Porsche's latest machine to join their acclaimed product portfolio could have the purists in complete dismay and despair. Porsche going electric? Surely it goes against the DNA of one of the worlds most revered sports car makers? However, in the face of a dramatically changing world, Porsche looks set to build on its sports car credentials as it stakes a claim for Tesla’s electric crown.

Cast your mind back not even 10 years. A small automotive startup in California, called Tesla has launched its first car, the Roadster. With ex PayPal mastermind and maverick Elon Musk at the helm, Tesla is an ambitious car maker, hell-bent on disrupting the established elite.

What made Tesla stand out was its electric credentials. No previous automotive experience meant they weren’t adapting expensive internal combustion engine factories to suit their new requirements, everything was being built from the ground up. Gaining huge momentum, the Tesla brand quickly gained traction as the Model S and Model X models soon followed after the impressive Roadster. Then came Tesla’s watershed moment, Model 3. Before even reaching production, the Model 3 had over half a million orders, unprecedented in the car world.

Noticing this dramatic shift and being hurt by continually tightening government legislation, it was time for Tesla’s rivals to sit up and take notice. Enter Porsche.

Realising the Model S had a potential to start eating into their market share, Porsche started to invest heavily into its electric future and the product of this investment is the Taycan. After an extensive testing phase, the Taycan was finally unleashed on to the world recently.

A new foray for Porsche, the Taycan is a pivotal moment for the brand and it’s clear that it’s current vehicles have heavily influenced this new machine. Visually it is quintessentially Porsche. Taking a front and rear end similar to that of the new 992 911 and the centre section of the Panamera, the Taycan is a fantastic looking car. With revised headlights and dual coloured alloys on the launch model, this car fits in perfectly to the current portfolio.

Inside this theme continues with items such as the Sports Chrono package centre dashboard-mounted clock still present. However, it’s the technology in the cabin that makes you realise that you are sat in something a little different.

Gone are any analogue dials and switches and in their place are gorgeous touch screens which put all control at the drivers and passengers fingertips in comfort and convenience. The cabin is an impressive place to be, and perfectly compliments the impressive technology that lies beneath.

Powering the Taycan to Tesla Model S rivalling performance are two electric motors, one mounted on each axle front and rear.  At launch, the Porsche Taycan will come in Turbo and Turbo S variants. Whilst both will produce around 625 bhp with both motors combined, the Turbo S will have further use of a powerful front inverter to produce an ‘overboost’ facility which will raise the Turbo S’s power output to 761 bhp.

These are impressive figures for a car that boasts four doors and when applied to the road, this amount of power means that a standstill to 62 mph time is able to fall in a mere 2.8 seconds. Add into the mix Porsche's high-performance battery packs and the Taycan will be good for a range of 262 miles for the Turbo S and a greater range of 283 miles in the Turbo badged variant.

Whilst impressive by design and performance, the Taycan is a little on the pricey side with the Taycan Turbo starting at £115,858, while the more powerful Turbo S sees prices in the brochure start at £138,826.

This is an important moment for Porsche. As the world slowly starts to switch to an all-electric future, this car could be Porsches Concorde moment and it will be interesting to see how the Taycan stacks up when pitted against the likes of the Tesla Model S. At Premier GT, we can’t wait to see how it performs.