2020 Porsche Taycan Debuts As An All-Electric Super Sedan

Legacy automakers have been content to challenge Tesla's all-electric dominance with a range of crossovers. But while the Audi E-Tron, Mercedes-Benz EQC, and Jaguar I-Pace are fine EVs, they also feel more like proofs of concept; ticking the basic boxes while falling well short of the range and performance standards set by Tesla.

Porsche is taking a different approach with the 2020 Taycan’s launch, introducing two high-performance variants first, with less potent, more affordable models coming later this year (and a Taycan Cross Turismo arriving late in 2020). While the first two models might ruffle some feathers with their respective names, we can promise that the Taycan Turbo and Turbo S are wholly worthy of one of Porsche's longest-running, most important badges, because they are impressively powerful and neck-snapping quick.

Both variants feature a pair of electric motors that, together, produce 616 horsepower. But in terms of maximum output (especially with the standard launch control system engaged), the Turbo and Turbo S radically diverge. Engage the max propulsion setting in the “base” car and the available 627 pound-feet of torque mingles with an overboosted 671 hp to launch the Taycan Turbo to 60 miles per hour in 3.0 seconds, 62 in 3.2 seconds, 124 in 10.6 seconds, and past the quarter mile just 11.1 seconds after it set off. That’s quick, but the Turbo S is much quicker.

With Launch Control engaged, the twin electric motors in the most powerful Taycan up the output from 616 hp to 751 hp. That matches nicely with the always available 774 lb-ft of torque and scoots the Turbo S to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds, 62 in 2.8 seconds, 124 in 9.8 seconds, and across the quarter mile mark in 10.8 seconds. It also performs well on aircraft carriers.

Both cars carry a 93.4-kilowatt-hour, high-voltage lithium-ion battery that packs enough electrons to allow the Taycan Turbo to cover 237 to 280 miles on the WLTP scale. The more-powerful Turbo S will do 241 to 256 miles. We’re guesstimating that the Taycan’s range on the EPA cycle will be around 212 to 250 miles in the Turbo and 212 to 229 in the Turbo S. As for charging, both cars use an 800-volt electrical architecture that allows a maximum charge rate of 270 kilowatts. That's fast enough to take the battery from five to 80 percent in just 22.5 minutes.

Price start at $153,310 for the Turbo and $187,610 for the Turbo S with sales slated for December 2019.

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