It’s such a dynamic car; more nimble and lighter. It was a more pure driving experience in my opinion.

Everyone at Porsche I’ve spoken to says they’re waiting to see if this model is right for the market, but I can see why they’re on the fence. This car would seriously compromise Turbo sales. Not only is it cheaper, it’s lighter without the extra motors, and feels like the transaxle cars of old.

It solidified my decision to wait for this model until I buy the car [if they don’t bring it here, I’ll just bite the bullet and purchase from abroad and pay for the regs :/] and I predict this model will be highly sought after in years to come, especially if they only make a relatively small number.

Awesome vehicle

 

You have to remember, we're talking about a ridiculously heavy car that does manage to handle incredibly well for it's weight. Simply reducing a few hundred pounds at the expense of several hundred HP just isn't worth it IMO. If all they've done is eliminate the front motor, that's 157 lbs on a 4800 lb car - this will not make a noticeable difference to anyone but a seasoned race/track driver. Much more significant options would be 4 wheel steering, PDCC and lighter carbon brakes with premium summer tires. What you're approaching if you continue to eliminate weight, battery capacity, power etc, is just a very heavy car that can be easily out handled by a much lighter ICE vehicle. Once there is a revolution in batteries and we can remove a thousand pounds or so from the battery pack, then you're talking a 'nimble' car.

It will be very interesting to see what the GTS version is like. I will bet it will be similar to the Panamera GTS, which simply has the 'sporting options' mentioned above, with some nice interior and bodywork etc, but I will guarantee there won't be a significant weight reduction. That just isn't in this car's DNA.

 

Yeah, I’m of two minds about that.
Lighter in the traditional sense is good, but on an ev means something different. If you have a heavy car that has the power to overcompensate for its weight, it almost doesn’t matter if it’s heavy or not because the turbos models trick you into believing it’s lighter than it is [the 918 excelled at this.]

On the other hand, there’s just something really fckng exciting about a rear wheel drive electric Porsche.
And it’s every bit as quick as the 4S; can’t really explain that, but the dynamics with these cars is just such a new kind of thing. A base Taycan can ‘feel’ more powerful than a Turbo Panamera.

Unique times.

 

How did you have the opportunity to drive this car? Was it a China market car?

 

Looks like it's more like a little over 100 HP. Not several hundred.

I think you're feeling the transient response and the instant burst of acceleration which is making it feel as "quick". But don't be fooled, even Porsche states it's a good bit slower. The 80-120 kmh test shows that this is where the two cars feel similar. Max that's 0.7 sec slower in the base Taycan, and looks like for the larger battery it's only 0.4 slower. That's not something that's easily felt. They will still both feel fast.

But when pushed over a sustain period, that gap quickly widens, as you can see below. Stats from the Porsche China website.

(No curb weights given or I would have posted them.)

 

Why Porsche didn’t tap into its corporate roots and heritage to release a fun rwd electric sports car with a rear weight bias and modern classic 356/911 styling from the get go has always mystified me. Thats why I am happy to read about the rwd Taycan. Is it the Taycan nearest to the classic Porsche driving experience? I’m surprised by how many Porsche buyers these days actually want overloaded luxury liners and SUVs.

 

Buy in. It never would have sold. Porsche is playing the long game here, and it makes sense. I mean, Porsche buyers are VERY traditional. The 911 still looks like the 911...and buyers refused to allow it to die and be taken over by the transaxle cars. The car's been a similar ethos for over 50 years now! So, do you think simply rolling out an electric sports car would fly with most buyers? I doubt it.

The Taycan is a perfect "look here" car for Porsche. It's why they rolled out with the Turbo S first, and repeatedly harp on the performance of the car, not the range or the eco impact, etc. They want you to know that this is a POSCHE and it's EXCITING. Even if it is electric. The car is expensive and not meant to sell in huge numbers. It's a toe dipped in the water.

Next up will be the electric Macan. That will get Porsche EV's on the street in volumes, and get buyers who are new to EV's to realize that EV's can actually be fun!

Next will come the Cayman / Boxster. Replacing the poor-sounding but good performing 4 cylinder with an electric powertrain will be no huge loss. As long as you continue the GT4 / Spyder with an ICE engine, no one will revolt.

By that time, people will be used to electric Porsches and electric Porsche sports cars.

 

Press event at Hockenheim

 

I think you're assuming "Porsche buyers" are the folks that would normally buy a 911. What you're seeing is not 'Porsche buyers" opting for the SUV's and "luxury liners", these are people that want an SUV or luxury liner and decide they like the Porsche better than the others. Smart move on Porsche's part, since they've expanded their buyer base. I doubt you're losing a lot of 911 sales to Macans or Panamera/Taycans. The concept of trying to make an EV equivalent to a 911 just doesn't work, for now at least.

 

My first Porsche was a Cayenne. We still have it, and we're on our second 911.

The 911 is the fun car. The Cayenne has 93k miles, about 2/3 my wife 1/3 me. It's nice having a Porsche SUV. Whenever I drive it I'm reminded at how much better than most SUV's it drives.

 

I'd assume that most Porsche owners have never owned a 2-door Porsche and will never do so. I never will; my first Porsches were two Panameras, and I now have a Macan, as well.
My furture Porsche purchases will all be 4-door plug-ins.

 

Porsche doesn’t even sell that many ICE 911’s.

An EV version would essentially be a complete drag on sales and revenue. Especially in a market where people only really care about SUVs or cross overs.

 

So is the Taycan a low volume “halo” car or a mainstream sales generator? This is where I get lost. I usually don’t think of 15 ft long 5000 lb four door luxury cars as halo cars for sports car brands so they must be going for sales, but, the market for 15 ft long 5000 lb four door luxury cars has been dwindling for years so it must be a halo car? I can think of lots of things the Taycan is NOT, but I’m not sure what it IS. Having a rwd version available at a more affordable price, and of course the wagon version, may help the Taycan find its identity and hopefully get more of them out on the road.
VW does such neat and creative things with retro modern design like the i.d. Buzz and i.d. Buggy and Porsche has such a rich heritage to draw from it would sure be fun to see what they could come up with from a clean sheet design. I would do a limited production modern 356 outlaw style coupe, soft top cabrio and a speedster with minimal tech, rwd, 50 kwh battery, 200kW motor, lots of candy colors and a price starting at $50k. Something to take out on a Sunday fun drive. Something that gets attention for the driver and the brand.
What would you design if you had your druthers?

 

Porsche just made their 1,000,000th Cayenne.

Porsche also made their 1,000,000th 911 only a a short time ago.

One of these has a 35 year head start.

 

It's a halo EV. A car that's not designed to sell in huge numbers, so it's hard to miss the sales targets. A way to introduce electrification to the Porsche brand without disrupting any of the current product line.