Porsche’s New All-Electric 761bhp Taycan Turbo S

Porsche’s New All-Electric 761bhp Taycan Turbo S finally hits the road…

If you thought that the move from air-cooled to more regular engines was a big turning point for Porsche, then I’ve no idea what you might think of this; the Porsche Taycan is the first pure-electric Porsche to hit the road, 4-years on from the tentative reveal of the Porsche EV concept vehicle. Porsche has said in the past that it was taking its time to get their first foray into EV right, and some have suggested that this is an occasion that might even compare to the introduction of the original 911 in 1963.

There’s no doubt about it, the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S is a fine-looking car in its own right, and as you might expect from Porsche, the performance was going to be key, hence the seemingly long wait for the arrival of the German manufacturer’s fully electric vehicle. In fact, the Taycan can put out an impressive 761bhp and the use of 880-volt architecture allows the Turbo S to achieve 0-60mph in just 2.6 seconds and 0-124mph in 9.8 seconds. As if that wasn’t blisteringly fast enough, the batteries can be charged to 80% in just over 22 minutes – and if that’s not fast enough for you, you only need to wait 5 minutes before you get a charge range of around 60 miles for the last minute rainy school run (as if anyone will ever use a Porsche Taycan for a school run, ever).

These charging figures are relevant when used with the Porsche 270kW Porsche Home Charging Dock, anything less will take slightly longer. The good news is that the docks will be available to acquire with the car, and in future will be available with Ionity charging stations – though there are currently just two Porsche chargers available in the south-east of the UK. The good news is that for a high-performance car, the Porsche Taycan Turbo S has a healthy range of 296 miles.

The Turbo S weighs in at 2,295kg with a rust-proof aluminium body and is technically all-wheel-drive via twin motors supplying power to each axle respectively, giving a top speed of 161mph. Batteries are floor-mounted, and this has allowed Porsche to achieve a 51.59 per cent front/rear weight distribution.

Being a 4-seater also means that this Porsche is larger than you might have been expecting the company’s first EV, allowing some comparison to the Panamera. If a car this fast seems a bit out of place being considered as a family car, then two boots (front and rear) might make you think again. Adaptive suspension courtesy of Porsche’s 4D Chassis Control should give a comfortable (or sporty) ride whether housing 1 person or 4, and full to capacity luggage or without. In fact, anti-roll cornering is set up to be similar to the 911 rather than the Panamera – suggesting that this car might prove to offer the best of both worlds rather than a compromise either way.

A nice and practical touch to is a charging connection on each side of the Taycan, reducing the need to align the car for charging; possibly more useful for home charging, but a very nice addition all the same.

So far Porsche has already got 30,000 advance orders for the Porsche Taycan Turbo S – and if this is what they come up with at their first attempt, then the near future of EV observing will simply be spent watching Porsche.