It’s already gone faster than a Tesla on the Nürburging, and the new Porsche Taycan looks set to go further than its main rival as well.
With a range of up to 421 miles (by Europe’s WLTP calculations) it’s capable of travelling almost 50 miles beyond the Tesla Model S Plaid on a full charge. That represents a massive 35 per cent increase over the previous model, while its charging speed has also been ramped up to make pit stops for precious electrons even more rapid. Now capable of charging at up to 320 kW (an increase of 50 kW) Porsche claims that, in ideal conditions, this could cut the time it takes to charge from ten to 80 per cent in half to just 18 minutes. Energy recovery under braking has been improved by more than 30 per cent as well.
With the top-of-the-range Performance Battery Plus installed the Taycan has a total capacity of 105 kWh for a real-world range of 365 miles, says Porsche (those WLTP figures are always optimistic). Across the line-up performance has been significantly increased, with the entry-level Taycan getting an extra 80 bhp, and the Turbo S adding an additional 188 bhp (for a total of a whopping 939 bhp). A new push-to-pass feature which comes as part of the Sport Chrono package can deliver a further 94 bhp kick for ten seconds at the press of a switch. The Taycan now accelerates to 62 mph from rest in 4.8 seconds, while the Turbo S delivers a whiplash-inducing time of just 2.4 seconds.
All Taycans will now come with adaptive air suspension and active ride can be specified for all-wheel drive versions. Porsche has managed to reduce weight by more than 15 kg despite adding more features including charging points on both sides of the car. There are styling tweaks to the front and rear with revised wings and new HD matrix headlights, while the rear light bar now incorporates the Porsche logo in three dimensions. Inside there are updates to the operating system, instrumentation and switchgear. The improvements come to the Taycan sedan and the Sport Turismo and Cross Turismo wagons.
Porsche has sold 150,000 Taycans since it launched at the end of 2019, challenging Tesla’s dominance as the performance EV leader. With this latest update, on sale in the spring, it would appear to leave the American adversary in the dust.
