Say hello to the Porsche Taycan, arguably the most
important model for Porsche since the introduction of the Cayenne and one of
the standouts of the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Introduced alongside another extremely important
electric vehicle from the VW Group, namely the ID.3, the Taycan shows just how
serious the German conglomerate is in establishing itself as a leader in the
electric vehicle space. The Taycan has been developed as a rival to Tesla and
looks extremely promising.
The Taycan was previewed by the Porsche’s Mission E
concept that premiered at Frankfurt four years ago. Much to the surprise of
many, the sleek design of the concept has been largely retained for the
road-going model. That means the Taycan still has distinctive headlights with
four individual daytime running lights incorporated into each light unit. The
car also sports pronounced wheel arches and when viewed from the side, has an
unmistakable Porsche shape. And just like the Porsche Mission E, the Taycan sports a single LED
light bar stretching the width of the car.
In terms of specs, the Porsche Taycan has so far
only been revealed in Turbo and Turbo S forms. Both of these models feature
dual electric motors delivering 616 hp ordinarily. However, both support an
Overboost function which increases grunt from the Taycan Turbo to 671 hp and 850 Nm and power from the Turbo S to 750 hp and 1050 Nm of torque.
Both models are powered by a 93.4 kWh lithium-ion
battery pack based on an 800-volt architecture that can charge 80 per cent in
as little as 22.5 minutes. Range for the Taycan Turbo sits at 450
km on the WLTP cycle while the Turbo S is good for 412 km.
