Porsche’s electric vehicle charge takes another step towards reality
Porsche has given us the clearest indication yet of what its upcoming Taycan will look like when it arrives next year thanks to the release of these not-particularly-clear images. There are no surprises on show, obviously, in that what we see here bears a great deal of resemblance to the likes of the Cayman, 911 and Panamera, although a sufficient measure of the Mission E concept on which it is based seems to have been retained to keep the design feeling fresh.
Aside from the more ruggedly styled Cross Turismo, Porsche looks set to offer the Taycan in several different guises with power outputs ranging from around 400hp to 600hp. At the top end, an all-wheel drive Taycan is expected to be able to hit 62mph in under 3.5 seconds; not quite the 2.4 seconds of Tesla’s most ludicrous Model S, but still on par with more than its fair share of supercars.
That’s because Porsche claims its focus with the Taycan is on “reproducible performance”, rather than the one-and-done showmanship of rivals, which it reckons don’t take very long to experience sharp declines in ability. That’s in a package which ought to provide reliable, 300-mile-plus range, a 15-minute charge to 80 per cent battery levels, and the sort of comfort, engagement and technology to which we’ve become accustomed.
We now know too, of course, that it will soon be joined by an all-electric Macan, set to really shake up the market when it drops internal combustion all together in 2021. This is part of Porsche’s push to spend over £5 billion on electrifying its range by 2022, but the company remains keen to convince its existing customers that building electric vehicles does not mean it has lost sight of its traditional values.
Pointing to the fact that, though changes like water-cooling and turbo-charging caused a stir when they were introduced, each generation of the 911 has outsold the last, the company reminded fans that its employees love the brand as much as they do, stating: “For them, their work is more than just a job. This means that, in reality, they themselves are the most careful preservers of the Porsche gene.”
With plenty of big changes set to hit the industry over the next decade, it looks like Porsche has comfortably stolen a march on many of its rivals, then. With three all-electric models confirmed over the next three years, a new 992 generation of 911 which has been widely acclaimed, and much more on the horizon, the manufacturer’s words would seem to ring true. Let’s see how it pans out…
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