The problem with small craft beer companies isn't about the quality of their products or the innovation behind it. It is about the scale. When the demand picks up, they cannot deliver - the quality goes down, and waiting time goes up. That is why not many alcohol drink representatives want to work with small scale craft beer producers. I am telling you this because we have something similar in the car world as well. When the demand picked up for the Tesla-produced cars, the company could not meet the expectations. No matter what it did. So, when a car like the Porsche Taycan comes to the market, it is a whole different story. It has Porsche and the entire Volkswagen Group behind it. These people do meet expectations, and these are all the quirks and features you need to know about the Taycan to believe it.
Fast Facts About The Porsche Taycan
Porsche Taycan Is the Most Expensive Project Porsche Has Ever Worked On
I am talking about billions and billions of euros. Considering it is the first-ever electric vehicle from Porsche, the company had to create a whole new factory in Stuttgart, start the Electrify America program, and develop a car. This all amounted to more than 6 billion euros. Sure, the technology developed will land in new vehicles as well and start a massive Porsche transformation, as the idea is that every other Porsche by 2025 gets some electric propulsion system.
The costs associated with all this are overwhelming. Luckily, the Taycan is just the first child raised from these surroundings. Can't wait to see more.
No leather Inside The Taycan, Sort Of
Keeping in line with its eco-conscious nature, the new Porsche Taycan completely ditches leather from its interior. Only if you select that particular option, tough. See, the standard trim does include leather. I mean real leather - from killed animals. However, if you choose to opt for the so-called Race-Tex upholstery, your seat covers will be made of faux leather. Lovely faux leather mind you. More precisely, it is not leather at all - Race-Tex microfiber is a textile partly made from recycled polyester fibers.
If you want to buy the Taycan for its eco-credentials, then I am obligated to tell you that Porsche emits 80 percent less CO2 while making the Race-Tex than from integrating real leather in the Taycan. Bear that in mind.
Porsche Taycan Dark Mode
I am not talking here about some sort of night edition of the Taycan, but about the standard feature within its infotainment system. I know just how much you want a dark mode on anything with a display. Well, Porsche listened, and it offered the Dark Mode for its infotainment as standard.
This is a big deal in a car that can have as much as five freaking displays in the cabin. Dark Mode it is, then. Oh, and one more thing. Considering that the primary, 16.8-inch display behind the steering wheel is an LG-produced OLED, then the Dark Mode uses less energy compared to the mode that displays more white. More Dark Mode, more range. Not that you could ever feel it or measure it, but it sounds cool.
Four Flat Screens and One Curved
Tell me, do you think that five different screens inside the Porsche Taycan feel like an overkill? Yup, in a top-notch Taycan with many options selected, you can find five different touch screens.
-* The 16.8-inch screen for the instrument cluster and navigation
-* The 10.9-inch main infotainment screen on the center of the console
-* 10+ inch passenger display in front of the passenger seat
-* 8.4-inch air-con and battery display under the central display
-* Rear 5.9-inch air-con display
The idea is that if you drive along with your Porsche Taycan alone, you don't need it. At all.
That display will show a map, various performance settings, your music playlist, and it could even display videos in the future. After all, the Porsche Taycan can receive over-the-air updates. I can only imagine that an army of Porsche programmers will work on updating it often.
37% of the Porsche Taycan Is Made of Aluminum
The pillars and the floor are made of steel, the battery cage, parts of the architecture, and most of the body is aluminum, while you can find traces of magnesium and many, many adhesives.
And that is precisely why this car is so important. See, Porsche did not have to look for new suppliers, some experimental tech, or even for a new development process. It builds a car from what it is already good at. This will make the Taycan extremely high-quality, and more than competitive against any rival you may image. I know that you are thinking about Tesla at this moment, and while I applaud Elon Musk and everyone at the company for the work they put in and the product they make, the Taycan is, on a whole another level. It is a Porsche. Inside out.
The Porsche Taycan Can Do Donuts
It can! Porsche was not shy when it showcased its Taycan prototypes to a selected group of journalists a few weeks before the reveal. Burned a bit of rubber, too. The Porsche Taycan is more than capable of moving the bar in directions no one expected. You don't even have to pull the fuses to do this kind of social disservice.
The Porsche Taycan Packs a Two-Speed Transmission
One of the most innovative features on the new Porsche Taycan is the integration of the multi-speed transmission on its rear axle for the rear electric motor. Virtually all the electric cars on sale have a single-speed transmission setup that transfers power from the electric motors to the wheels. Having a two-speed transmission opens a whole world of possibilities for Porsche. First of all, the electric car with this setup could be far more efficient at high speed. That, if you read this comprehensive article on electric vehicles, is crucial.
With a two speed transmission, the Porsche Taycan can do what any regular car with a transmission does - introduce a longer gearing with the higher gear. This will lower power consumption and improve the conversion rate of battery power to the wheels.
You may ask, how come no one taught of this before? Well, of course, someone did, but the high-torque electric motors tend to produce so much torque instantly that gears simply cannot handle it for long periods of time.
"Multi-speed transmissions must be robust to deal with the massive amounts of torque that electric motors can generate in a very short period of time," says Shashank Sripad, a mechanical engineer from Carnegie Mellon. Even Tesla experimented with the tech on its Roadster, but it was so unreliable they could not sell it.
Porsche developed it to overcome the problems that plague all-electric cars - massive energy consumption at high speeds. Car and Driver's Dave Vanderwerp nicely explained what does this multi-speed setup can do in real life:
"Porsche's gearbox has a single planetary gear set and two clutches that handle the ratio swap or decouple the rear motor altogether, allowing for efficient running using only front-axle power. The gearing step is large, with the second-gear ratio roughly half of the first and the shift point happening around 50 mph. In most driving, the Taycan runs in top gear. First-gear starts happen in Sport or Sport Plus mode; to do it in Normal, you'll need a large accelerator input."
The Five Modes Of The Porsche Taycan
Drive modes are a big deal with electric cars. Much bigger than they ever were for ICE-powered vehicles.
Range mode - the top speed for the Range Mode is limited between 56 mph and 87 mph. It, of course, can be overridden, but the whole idea behind the Range mode is, well, the range. The Taycan is even capable of disengaging the rear axle completely in which case this sports sedan becomes an FWD-driven car. Range Mode also limits the energy consumption of all systems, including the lights, the air conditioning, and suspension.
Unlike Range Mode, Normal mode provides full-time AWD, most comfortable settings for the air suspension, and it allows comfort creatures, such as the a/c, to work without any limitations. Furthermore, Normal Mode automatically adjusts the rear spoiler and all other aerodynamic features according to the current conditions on the road.
Sport Mode is where the Taycan finally becomes a Porsche. This mode allows for the maximum acceleration thanks to its rear-biased power distribution. It also starts in the first gear of the two-speed transmission. Plus, everything follows the sporty note of the electric motors. The 4WD system works quicker, the car as a whole gets lowered by almost an inch, while the system opens flaps up front for even better cooling. Porsche went so far with it that the Adaptive Cruise Control acts far more intensive compared to what it does in Normal mode.
Sport Plus really goes to town then. Sport Plus seems to be designed for the track driving where the Taycan needs to provide the best possible performance. That is why the Porsche Taycan completely changes the cooling strategy in this mode. Everything works the best it can to give the Porsche Taycan the most extreme performance possible. And it shows. The Taycan can do this:
0-60 mph |
2.6 seconds |
0-124 mph |
9.8 seconds |
Top speed |
161 mph |
Then, there is the Individual mode. There, you can basically adjust all the features per your own personal taste.
The Most Expensive Porsche Taycan Price Is More Than $242,000
The most expensive 2020 Porsche Taycan - which wears the Turbo S badge - can reach prices of just under $250,000. I've managed to reach $242,000 on the configurator. I am sure you can add a few more grand to it if you ask for some additional Porsche Exclusive features. This, obviously, makes it a 100 grand more expensive compared to the Tesla Model S P100D with a lot of gear. The thing is that, as ever, Porsche can go mad with optional equipment. I've added almost 60 grand on top of the Taycan Turbo S base price of $185,000.
Further Reading
Porsche Revealed The Taycan And It Is An Electric Game Changer
Read our full review on the 2020 Porsche Taycan.
Read our full review on the 2020 Porsche Taycan CUV.
Read our full speculative review on the 2020 Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo.
Read our full speculative review on the 2021 Porsche Taycan GTS.
Read our full review on the 2018 Porsche Mission E Cross Turismo Concept.
Read our full review on the 2015 Porsche Mission E Concept.