Porsche Taycan electric car conquers Big Red

A Porsche Taycan electric car driven by carsales has crested the Big Red sand dune on the eastern edge of the Simpson Desert.

It’s believed to be the first showroom-spec battery-electric vehicle to climb the largest of 1100 sand dunes in the central Australian desert that spans Queensland, the Northern Territory and South Australia.

“I don’t think there has been an EV up Big Red,” said Ben Fullagar, general manager of the Birdsville Hotel, a man who knows a lot of what’s going on in town.

“There’s been a Tesla to town, but to our knowledge it didn’t tackle Big Red.”

Local ranger and Wangkangurru Yarluyandi elder Don Rowlands was also unaware of any EVs that had ascended Big Red.

The historic journey for a car powered purely by electricity occurred hours after the same Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo 4S topped an indicated 248km/h down the Birdsville air strip as part the extensive test.

The 5000km-plus test that started in Darwin was designed to take an EV way out of its comfort zone and showcase the breadth of ability of one of the fastest electric cars on the market.

The Taycan Cross Turismo 4S has a dual-motor EV powertrain making 360kW – or 420kW with an overboost function when launch control is engaged. Combined with 650Nm of torque it can scamper to 100km/h in 4.1 seconds on the way to a top speed of 240km/h.

We put all of that to the test – and more – during the cross-country adventure that also took in the famous Mount Panorama racetrack in Bathurst, the iconic Betoota Hotel and the Sydney Harbour Bridge before finishing at Bondi Beach.

Naturally there were charging challenges along the way, especially in the Northern Territory and outback Queensland.

But detailed planning on charging prior to hitting the road in Darwin and assistance from locals along the way – including at a remote cattle station near the Queensland/Northern Territory border – ensured the electric Porsche never fell below 19km of remaining range.

Speaking of which, the claimed range for the car was 469km, a figure we rarely achieved.

That was no surprise given the generally higher speeds being travelled; in the Northern Territory we took full advantage of the posted 130km/h limits, while in Queensland and NSW it was often 110km/h zones.

Even then, though, there were times when we travelled well below the speed limit.

All of which yielded some interesting results about EV energy use at different speeds, something we’ve detailed in our separate story on the epic trip.

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