The Taycan was Porsche’s first electric car, but it’s still somehow difficult to believe it’s nearly five years old, such is the EV’s enduring success. Porsche, however, is clearly well aware of its electric saloon’s age, and the brand has updated the Taycan, bringing lightly modified styling and new battery technology to the table.
We’ve already sampled the new Taycan in range-topping Turbo GT form and in high-powered Taycan Sport Turismo estate guise, but this is the first time we’ve driven one of the more basic rear-wheel-drive, single-motor Taycan models since they were launched. Admittedly, this test is of a model with the new, more powerful battery, but this is almost the cheapest Taycan you can buy, and it falls to us to find out whether it’s the best.
What does the new Porsche Taycan look like?
At first glance, the new Taycan appears much the same as its predecessor, but if you look closely, you might spot a few updates. The front-end design has been honed a bit, with new front wings that are designed to make the car look a bit more purposeful, and new headlights laced with extra tech, including high-resolution ‘matrix’ technology and Porsche’s four-point light signature.
At the back, meanwhile, Porsche has changed the logo in the light strip, giving it a 3D glass-effect design. And for the first time, Porsche is offering the Taycan with illuminated lettering at the rear as an optional extra.
But if truth be told, all those changes are minor in the extreme, and it really isn’t easy to tell the new model from its predecessor. But that’s no great issue, because both the old and new versions of the Taycan look thoroughly modern, with a sporty-yet-futuristic shape that manages to be different from other Porsche products while also being unmistakably a Porsche. It’s a really good piece of design.
A look inside the Porsche Taycan
As with the Taycan’s exterior, the cabin is very similar to that of the previous generation’s. Look closely and you might spot the new ambient lighting technology and aluminium door sill protectors, all of which are now included as standard, but that’s about it. The basic layout is just as it was before, with the clean cabin punctuated almost solely by two central touchscreens and a digital instrument display.
Perhaps surprisingly for Porsche, that means there are one or two oddities. The start button and the drive selector are almost hidden away behind the steering wheel, which takes a bit of getting used to, and the touch-sensitive climate controls in the lower central screen feel a little odd at first, but you quickly acclimatise.
Quality is pretty much second to none, so everything feels nicely made and the materials are all excellent, even in this relatively lowly example. And the driving position is every bit as good as that of the 911, which means you feel comfortable and in control.
But while the driving position is good, those in the back might find life a little less comfortable. Rear headroom is pretty limited, and that means tall adults won’t enjoy life in the back seats very much, even though rear legroom isn’t too tight. Kids will be fine back there, though, and you’ll be able to carry a fair bit of their stuff. A 407-litre boot doesn’t sound all that special when the BMW i5 has a 490-litre luggage bay, but the Taycan is on a par with the Audi S e-tron GT, and it has an 84-litre front luggage compartment to help out if required. Or you could always go for the roomier estate version.
The Porsche Taycan’s on-board technology
Traditionally, Porsches haven’t been especially well-equipped as standard, but the brand has upped the Taycan’s game with the latest update. As before, the car gets three main screens, with a central touchscreen joined by a secondary central screen just above the centre console, while a big digital instrument cluster resides behind the steering wheel. They’re all very sharp-looking and modern, and pretty user-friendly, but now Porsche has improved them with an optimised driver interface that includes deeper integration of the Apple CarPlay smartphone connectivity system.
The addition of ambient lighting, heated front seats and a smartphone tray, as well as a reversing camera and electrically folding door mirrors, also helps. All of that is now standard, alongside a few other gadgets, including a drive mode selector. In truth, though, while the Taycan has all the kit you really need and clearly comes with a powerful battery and motor set-up, it doesn’t focus on technology in the way you might expect. All the stuff that’s there is understated and simply does what it says on the tin, which makes it very ergonomic and helpful, but you never fixate on it. It doesn’t get in the way of driving the car, and that’s probably what Porsche was trying to achieve.
How fast is the Porsche Taycan?
As standard, the Taycan comes with the ‘Performance Battery’, which has a maximum useable capacity of 82.3kWh, while the Performance Battery Plus option ups that figure to 97kWh. So, while the standard battery is pretty good - it’ll do between 569 and 662km on a charge, according to the official figures - the Performance Battery Plus will take you between 719 and 821km. And if you think those numbers are outrageously inflated, think again. On our test, we managed almost 700km on a single charge driving at motorway speeds and without too much care for efficiency, so with a bit more care and slower roads, we’d probably have topped 750km.
As a result, owners will rarely need to charge the Taycan away from their own driveways, but when they do, they won’t have to spend long doing it. Because the Performance Battery Plus allows you to charge at speeds of up to 320kW, assuming you can find a suitable charging point, you can recharge the battery from 10 to 80 per cent in about 20 minutes. And given 80 per cent of a charge gives you around 550km of range, that’s going to be more than enough for most.
But despite the efficiency and range, the Taycan is still a proper Porsche, and it comes with a big motor on the rear axle to ensure there’s plenty of poke. Opt for a completely basic Taycan, and you get a 408hp motor, but the Performance Battery Plus gets you a power hike to 435hp. That has no great bearing on the car’s pace from a standing start - both versions do 0-100km/h in just under five seconds - but the more powerful option is a bit more responsive when it comes to overtaking.
In truth, few drivers really need much more than 400hp at the disposal of their right foot, so even this basic Taycan is more than fast enough. It’s quicker than the standard 2.0-litre petrol Porsche Cayman. Yet it’s much quieter and more practical, and if you charge at home, it’ll also be considerably cheaper to run.
Driving the Porsche Taycan
To be a true Porsche, the Taycan has to be more than just fast in a straight line. This is a brand built around poise, balance and driver involvement, and the Taycan has to fill that brief, too. Fortunately, it does so with just as much brilliance as its predecessor.
Adaptive air suspension is included as standard on all Taycan models, and that allows the car to stay relatively flat and level in the corners, almost regardless of how hard you fling it into a bend. The steering is great, too, and with the motor driving the rear wheels alone, the base Taycan feels pure and intuitive, in a way some more powerful versions might not. In short, it feels like a true sports car - to such an extent that you can easily forget it’s really a four-door saloon.
Yet while it handles like a coupe, it still rides like a saloon. Perhaps it isn’t as supple as Porsche claims, but in the softer suspension settings it will absorb imperfections in the surface pretty well. It’s no magic carpet, but it’s supple enough to be comfortable on the motorway, even if you feel the bumps a bit at lower speeds. And for something that drives this well on a country lane, you can forgive the odd thump around town.
And of course, the electric powertrain is whisper-quiet, while the impressive sound deadening and well-appointed interior mean there isn’t much noise on the road. As a result, the Taycan manages the double-whammy of being one of the best electric cars for long distances, as well as being one of the best to drive.
How many child seats can you fit in a Porsche Taycan?
Despite being one of the sportiest electric cars out there, the Taycan still has provision for two ISOFIX child seat mounting points on the rear bench. Fitted in the outermost seat positions, they are fairly easy to access, although the Taycan’s low roof at the rear means getting child seats in and out might not be the easiest feat in the world. Still, for a sports car, it’s still pretty practical.
How much does the Porsche Taycan cost in Ireland?
The basic Taycan is, predictably, the cheapest in the range, but that doesn’t mean it’s especially wallet friendly. Irish prices start at just over €110,000, which makes it quite costly, but it’s still cheaper than the Audi S e-tron GT quattro, which is now the cheapest model in the e-tron GT range. Even with the Performance Battery Plus, which we heartily recommend, it’s still more than €20,000 cheaper than the least expensive e-tron GT.
That said, and as is so often the way with Porsche, the standard equipment isn’t quite as generous as you might hope. You only get four seats as standard, and though leather, climate control and a reversing camera are all thrown in, smarter interior trim, heated rear seats and adaptive cruise control are all optional extras. In fairness, though, the digital instrument display and both touchscreens are all standard, and you don’t get much more equipment if you step up the range to a more expensive model.
The reasons you’d buy a Porsche Taycan
The Taycan remains one of the best electric sports saloons out there and, even in relatively lowly forms, it’s still a great car to drive and be inside. The combination of performance, range and luxury is a winning one even in this most basic form, and the option of the Performance Battery Plus only makes the Taycan more appealing. In fact, for the vast majority of buyers, we’d say the basic Taycan with the bigger battery makes the most sense.
Ask us anything about the Porsche Taycan
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