The Porsche Taycan Doesn't Seem to Have Much Soul During These Silent, Slow Passes on the Nurburgring

TopSpeed

By Kirby Garlitos

Published Jul 10, 2018

Don't be fooled by what you can't hear because there's a monster lurking under there

It goes by the name Porsche Taycan now, though some of you still probably know it by its Mission E designation. Regardless of what you call it, Porsche’s first-ever all-electric vehicle was recently spotted at the Nurburgring, and it sounded about as loud as a church mouse. But don’t worry about what the Taycan can’t do — produce earth-shaking noise — because once this sedan stretches its legs, it’s more than capable of making a lot more noise than you think.

It’s easy to get caught up in the hype surrounding the Porsche Taycan. The all-electric vehicle is history-making in a lot of ways. Not only is it Porsche’s first all-electric car, but it also represents a new frontier for the Stuttgart-based automaker. See, a lot is riding on the success of the Taycan, enough, at least, for Porsche CEO Oliver Blume to call it the company’s “make or break” model. If it succeeds, it opens a new world of opportunity for the German brand, a world ripe with all-electric potential. If it falls flat on its face, well, let’s just say that at least Porsche tried, something you can’t say for some of its rivals.

The good news is that the company spared all expenses on its all-electric car. According to Porsche, the Taycan will have as much as 600 horsepower at its disposal; an exciting performance number made more impressive by the 310-mile range it also supposedly has. The sedan is also expected to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in under 3.5 seconds and from 0 to 120 mph in under 12 seconds. The Taycan has the makings of a revolutionary Porsche model, and the people behind it expect not to see it any other way.

Sure, the Taycan sounds like it left its personality in Stuttgart when it was caught doing test runs on the Nurburgring. It didn’t cause goosebumps the way those high-powered V-12 monsters do when they’re piercing the quiet surroundings of the track with their blood-curdling engines. The absence of any meaningful noise is a little jarring, especially from a Porsche, but that’s all part of the Taycan package. It’s not a traditional Porsche; it’s the future of Porsche.

Don’t be disappointed, though, because the Taycan is still knee-deep in development. We won’t see the final production version until 2019 so there’s still plenty of time for Porsche to work out all the details on the car it hopes will lead it to a world it hasn’t stepped into before. For now, enjoy what you’re able to watch. Soon enough, the actual Porsche Taycan will make its debut. Only then will we know the fruits of Porsche’s labor. The Taycan may not sound like a traditional performance car. But as we’ve seen with all the performance EVs that have already been launched, there’s more than one way to judge a car’s performance other than the amount of noise it can generate.

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