2020 Porsche Taycan First Drive: A Star is Born
Atlanta, GA - Porsche took its time before wading all the way into the electric mobility waters, but now that it has, its first all-electric vehicle is nothing short of spectacular. After a long, impatient wait, we finally got to go meet the thing.
Porsche first announced its intentions with the E-Mission prototype, which gave an idea of the orientation the company was taking and collected its fair share of acclaim from automotive journalists. The Taycan that Porsche now proposes descends directly from that concept. The German automaker had to quickly adjust its original production schedule of 20,000 units in the first year to 30,000 due to demand, and it may well reach 40,000 once the assembly line putting the Taycan together has reached its cruising speed.
A genuine Porsche
The engineers and brand representatives on hand for the launch event emphasized the importance through the long development process of maintaining the very nature of a Porsche car, even in an EV. Which meant it had to be sporty, fast and powerful, whether it ran on electricity or gas.
To this end, the Taycan underwent multiple tests including a rigorous endurance test on the Nardo track in southern Italy, where it covered 3,425 km in the space of 24 hours. The Taycan then scored a record lap time of 7m 42s on the famed Nurburgring track. That’s as fast as a 911 GT3.
Turbos – what?
Porsche will offer the Taycan in two versions, the Turbo and Turbo S - names that may seem strange considering that we’re dealing with all-electric vehicles here. Porsche explains this was done to retain a way to rank different levels of performance that’s familiar to customers.