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EV Starting Point, Taycan commentary and criticism welcome...
Incredible starting point for the Taycan...
As with all Porsche models, it will quickly evolve and you can rest assured that it's performance and capabilities will quickly eclipse the current offering. Not bad looking as well...
For decades Porsche fans have clinged to the past and hammered on new offerings:
The 911 was panned by the 356 loyalists!
The 914 was trashed by 911 fans.
The 928 was dissed by 911 loyalists!
924's and early 944's? Trashed by many...
The water-cooled 911's were hated by the air-cooled guys.
The Cayenne was absolutely flamed on by almost all Porsche owners when it was introduced.
The original Panamera? Don't even go there!
Now it is the Taycan's turn to be attacked by those that judge without first hand knowledge. It follows the human pattern of criticizing the unknown from a position of ignorance. Ask Socraties? Ask Gallileo? Ask da Vinci? Ask Porsche?
In my 42 years of Porsche ownership I have learned hold my tongue and trust the Porsche engineers and designers. I was a die-hard 911 guy and it took me decades to understand the 928, now I have four of them. I hated the Cayenne as a horrible pig-man of a vehicle, now they are my daily drivers and I find them to be remarkably practical and fun.
Getting back to the Taycan; It is simply the starting point for what will be a revolution in vehicle efficiency.
6 billion Euros are being invested in electrical vehicles by Porsche, and by 2025 fully 50% of Porsche's cars will be EV's. This revolution will alter driving patterns and transportation radically and I continue to trust that Porsche will get it right.
Am I giving up on my 911 Turbo Exclusive and jumping into a Taycan Turbo S? Not yet. But in a few years you can bet that there will be a Taycan in my/our stable.
There are no words to describe how bent out of shape I am at the pricing, the use of turbo in the names and the out right audacity of Porsche to think “we will just make customers pay for all of our R&D and infrastructure investment to build this car “
Anyone who spends the kind of money to buy one of these cars is an outright idiot, if I ever go electric it will be a pre-owned Model S.
Elon Musk must be laughing his *** off, I honestly hope the Taycan is a sales failure because Porsche’s audacity and full-of-themself-ness has reached a new height. Plus Formula E ? Any racing series that allows fans to vote for who gets more electric boost is laughably transparently crap so I hope Porsche fails there too. The only R&D venture I support is the GTE/GTLM and GT3R and GT4 racing programs.
AND you know Porsche stealers will charge for software updates, there is no way in hell they would adopt the Apple or Tesla model of free software updates to care for their trusting customers.
I wanted to be excited and supportive of the company around this car but I just can’t, it just makes me sick to my stomach.
I will keep my 993 and pass it on to a nephew when I die and my Macan GTS is a wonderful fantastic all around vehicle. I am retired and do not have the funds that most of the people that frequent these forums do that can buy new 991s or ugly 992s or GT3s or whatever models they own , I don’t have that choice. There was a point where I thought a somewhat basic Taycan would be in my future but Porsche will ensure through their pricing and strategies that an average retired person will never have a shot at that so from this point the brand can kiss my ***. I will never set foot again in a Porsche stealership, my local independent shop will get all my service and parts business.
There are no words to describe how bent out of shape I am at the pricing, the use of turbo in the names and the out right audacity of Porsche to think “we will just make customers pay for all of our R&D and infrastructure investment to build this car “
Anyone who spends the kind of money to buy one of these cars is an outright idiot, if I ever go electric it will be a pre-owned Model S.
I probably will go electric with my next commuter car and it will likely be a Model S. However, calling those who go for the Taycan "idiots" is a bit much. I assume that if one can make enough money to drop close to 200k on a sedan they are likely not an idiot. It's a matter of choice and people can choose to do whatever they want with their money. Porsches are NEVER a value proposition yet people keep buying them, The Taycan has stuff going for it - I think it looks terrific, I'm sure the interior and driving experience (steering feel, chassis dynamics, etc.) will be vastly superior to Tesla's. Is that enough to justify the much higher price? Not for me (I find it hard to be too excited about a big heavy sedan whether an M5, Model S, Panamera or Taycan) but probably enough for others...
I probably will go electric with my next commuter car and it will likely be a Model S. However, calling those who go for the Taycan "idiots" is a bit much. I assume that if one can make enough money to drop close to 200k on a sedan they are likely not an idiot. It's a matter of choice and people can choose to do whatever they want with their money. Porsches are NEVER a value proposition yet people keep buying them, The Taycan has stuff going for it - I think it looks terrific, I'm sure the interior and driving experience (steering feel, chassis dynamics, etc.) will be vastly superior to Tesla's. Is that enough to justify the much higher price? Not for me (I find it hard to be too excited about a big heavy sedan whether an M5, Model S, Panamera or Taycan) but probably enough for others...
I think the problem is this: historically Porsche's represented value for money because while they delivered better performance and reliability than less expensive cars and than some more expensive cars.
With the Taycan, Porsche is becoming Aston Martin. Selling an inferior car, trimmed out with tons of luxury and a nice nameplate. BTW It's no small irony that Aston Martin is launching an electric Rapide later this year with a rumored 200-250 mile range and 0-60 in 3-4 seconds.
The volume of crow that will need eating grows by the day.
Haha
The upcoming magazine test/drive's, can't come soon enough, right!? LOL
The OP's premise of the cognoscenti prematurely hating any new Porsche that's different is right on point in the current milieu. LOL
There are no words to describe how bent out of shape I am at the pricing, the use of turbo in the names and the out right audacity of Porsche to think “we will just make customers pay for all of our R&D and infrastructure investment to build this car “
Anyone who spends the kind of money to buy one of these cars is an outright idiot, if I ever go electric it will be a pre-owned Model S.
Elon Musk must be laughing his *** off, I honestly hope the Taycan is a sales failure because Porsche’s audacity and full-of-themself-ness has reached a new height. Plus Formula E ? Any racing series that allows fans to vote for who gets more electric boost is laughably transparently crap so I hope Porsche fails there too. The only R&D venture I support is the GTE/GTLM and GT3R and GT4 racing programs.
AND you know Porsche stealers will charge for software updates, there is no way in hell they would adopt the Apple or Tesla model of free software updates to care for their trusting customers.
I wanted to be excited and supportive of the company around this car but I just can’t, it just makes me sick to my stomach.
I will keep my 993 and pass it on to a nephew when I die and my Macan GTS is a wonderful fantastic all around vehicle. I am retired and do not have the funds that most of the people that frequent these forums do that can buy new 991s or ugly 992s or GT3s or whatever models they own , I don’t have that choice. There was a point where I thought a somewhat basic Taycan would be in my future but Porsche will ensure through their pricing and strategies that an average retired person will never have a shot at that so from this point the brand can kiss my ***. I will never set foot again in a Porsche stealership, my local independent shop will get all my service and parts business.
I appreciate your commentary. It is rather intense, possibly a little inappropriate...
Lets look at a few items from your post:
1. Your quote "we will just make customers pay for all of our R&D and infrastructure investment to build this car".
I do not believe that Porsche or one of its representatives made that statement --- but my reply to the sentiment is... Of course customers pay for companies R&D and infrastructure! If we didn't, there would be no one to buy cars from! I intend to buy a Taycan Turbo S with the full understanding that Turbo S means the highest combined performance and luxury combination (no confusion for me). I will gladly pay for Porsches R&D as well as the developing infrastructure in the form of a purchased automobile. Voting with my dollars so to speak.
2. Call me an idiot if you feel that way but I celebrate advancing technology and look forward to the development of this platform.
3. Elon Musk laughing? I do not wish failure on anyone and I certainly do not wish failure for the Porsche brand. Elon is probably a bit Leary of the potential of those 800 volt chargers and the $50 billion dollars in infrastructure buildout that the German auto manufacturers are investing in it.
4. I'm looking forward to the evolution of the Taycan with optimism. Imagine what this thing will be like when the weight of the battery is cut by 50%, charge time cut by 50% and battery capacity is increased by 100%. WOW! the future cars are going to be so fast, comfortable, stealthy and efficient!
5. I do not think that the average retired person is a Porsche customer in the first place. No matter how entitled they feel to receive free R&D and Porsche quality at Tesla prices...
6. Enjoy that 993 and your Macan GTS, both are great vehicles!
The Model S is a significantly cheaper, more GENERALLY useful (more space and storage), longer range EV. Likely a better "EV" I think.
The Taycan, likely has much better build quality, more balanced performance (not just straight line), and a higher comfort factor. Likely a better "CAR" I think.
So, before folks on BOTH sides of the debate tell me how wrong I am on ALL my observations, why can't folks just appreciate the cars for what they are? Why does one of them have to "LOSE" so the other can "WIN"? Both cars are pretty amazing in their own right. Its the tribal "fanbois" (on BOTH sides) which are messed up...
The Model S is a significantly cheaper, more GENERALLY useful (more space and storage), longer range EV. Likely a better "EV" I think.
The Taycan, likely has much better build quality, more balanced performance (not just straight line), and a higher comfort factor. Likely a better "CAR" I think.
So, before folks on BOTH sides of the debate tell me how wrong I am on ALL my observations, why can't folks just appreciate the cars for what they are? Why does one of them have to "LOSE" so the other can "WIN"? Both cars are pretty amazing in their own right. Its the tribal "fanbois" (on BOTH sides) which are messed up...
Agreed 100%. The Taycan will significantly advance the performance aspect of EV's which, considering the performance of the most recent Teslas, is a damn strong achievement. There are no losers in this battle as it will force all brands to continually raise the bar to match. That also includes, most significantly, the future EV's from Porsche. Porsche can't throw down these figures with the Taycan and then leave the future products as poor relations. It bodes well for the strength of their upcoming products given that their first clean sheet effort is so strong. .
09-07-2019 | 09:02 PM
EV Starting Point, Taycan commentary and criticism welcome...
