The demand for the Porsche Taycan is skyrocketing as interested customers start piling up ahead of the electric car’s production launch in 2019. Porsche UK managing director, Alexander Pollich, confirmed the expected news to Autocar, though he did not disclose the exact amount of customer interest in the German automaker’s first-ever all-electric EV. The Taycan is expected to arrive in dealerships sometime in 2020, kick-starting a new era for the Stuttgart-based automaker.

This news is hardly surprising considering who we’re talking about and the importance of the car to the company we’re talking about. Porsche has invested a lot of time, money, and resources in developing its first all-electric car, and it appears that all that hard work is paying off earlier than the German automaker expected.

“The reaction from customers has been fantastic - from the moment we announced the car to now, when we have asked customers to register their interest for the first cars,” Pollich told Autocar. “The history of Porsche began with an electric car in 1898 and that provides some inspiration and motivation for us. Of course, there was a big gap, but we have led with the introduction of hybrids, and now we will use our heritage and learnings to offer a class-leading electric car."

Pollich did not specify exactly how many customers have made their interests known, but it’s easy to imagine a lot of people tripping over themselves just to get a chance to own what could very well be one of Porsche’s most important models. That’s the expectation a lot of people have for the Taycan. It’s been called a “game-changer” by a lot of people within Porsche, a description that doesn’t carry an ounce of hyperbole in it. The Taycan does have the potential to be a game-changing model for the German automaker, largely because of the market it’s opening for the company.

Development is ongoing, and the common thread surrounding the car is the amount of innovation it’s carrying. It sits on a new architecture, for example. Porsche calls it “J1,” and it is one of three new electric car platforms that are being developed by parent company Volkswagen. Former F1 champion and 2015 WEC Champion Mark Webber also revealed that the Taycan will carry 600 horsepower, making it the second most powerful Porsche in terms of output out of all the models in the entire lineup. The only model with more power than the Taycan is the 911 GT2 RS. Given its heavier weight, the Taycan is said to be capable of sprinting from 0 to 62 mph in around 3.5 seconds. Likewise, range has been estimated at around 300 miles.

All these details, together with the aforementioned potential for provenance, makes the Porsche Taycan one of the most important models the company has developed in years. It’s also why so many people are clamoring to get a hold of one. “The next 18 months will be fascinating, as we develop and reveal the car, but what is already clear is that customers are keen,” Pollich said. “They are talking to our dealers asking how to get to the top of the priority lists and asking to access more information.”

Further reading

Read our full speculative review on the 2020 Porsche Mission E.

Read our full speculative review on the 2020 Porsche Mission E GTS.

Read more Porsche Taycan news.

Read more Porsche news.