Porsche Taycan launched

It may have no turbos but it does have a very particular set of skills… Skills that Porsche says heralds a new era and will likely be a nightmare for companies who have sought to claim the EV high ground.

The Porsche Taycan Turbo and range-topping Porsche Taycan Turbo S all-electric mid-size sedan/liftback were officially unveiled concurrently on three continents overnight.

The Porsche Taycan family’s world premiere took place at locations Porsche states were chosen for their connection with “sustainable energy management”.

They were Niagara Falls on the US/Canada border representing hydropower, a solar farm in Neuhardenberg near Berlin in Germany and a wind farm on Pingtan Island near the Chinese city of Fuzhou.

The launch is the culmination of over six billion euro worth of development and the construction of a new 1.5 billion euro production facility in the heart of Porsche territory at Zuffenhausen in southern Germany.

The subject of numerous technical drip-feed ‘leaks’ and official releases, the Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S were also the focus of an almost unprecedented series of technical deep drives.

You can read our coverage of everything you need to know about the Porsche Taycan elsewhere in carsales’ pages.

"The Taycan links our heritage to the future. It carries forward the success story of our brand – a brand that has fascinated and thrilled people the world over for more than 70 years," said Oliver Blume, Porsche Chairman at the Berlin event.

"This day marks the start of a new era," Blume stated.

The main stats for the new Porsche EV are impressive. The Taycan Turbo S can produce up to 560kW, accelerate to 200km/h in under 10sec and lap the Nurburgring in 7min 42sec – a record for an EV and within 20sec of Porsche’s latest 911 variant.

It’s all-wheel drive, has a WLTP EV range of up to 450km and can be charged from 5-80% capacity in 22.5 minutes, Porsche claims. A large factor in all aspects of the performance is the Taycan’s introduction of 800V electrics into the production car world.

Porsche also claims the Taycan was designed as a Porsche first and an electric car second.

“We promised a true Porsche for the age of electromobility – a fascinating sports car that not only excites in terms of its technology and driving dynamics, but also sparks a passion in people all over the world, just like its legendary predecessors have done. Now we are delivering on this promise,” stated Michael Steiner, Porsche’s head of R&D.

The Porsche Taycan Turbo and Porsche Taycan Turbo S will arrive Down Under in late 2020. The Taycan range will eventually include lower-output rear- and all-wheel drive variants likely to be priced from under $200,000.

There’s also a high-ride Taycan Cross Turismo family to come.

Related reading:
Porsche Taycan: Everything you need to know