Don’t let the names Porsche Taycan Turbo and Porsche Taycan Turbo S fool you. This all-electric sports sedan has no “turbocharger” in it. Heck, it doesn’t even have any sort of internal combustion engine. Then why the name? Just so it sounds premium like the other models in its range. If there ever was a facepalm moment, this is it.
Nevertheless, the Porsche Taycan is an all-electric, four-door sports sedan that is based on the Mission E concept showcased last year. It carries a price tag of $153,510 (Rs 1.10 crore, excluding duties) for the basic Taycan Turbo going up to $187,610 (Rs 1.35 crore) for the Turbo S. Once it comes to India in the second quarter of 2020, it would be over Rs 2.3 crore.
The name, announced by Porsche CEO Oliver Blume last year, means the Lively Young Horse, a reference to the horse that takes centrestage on the Porsche logo.
Gone is the sporty roar associated with Porsche internal combustion engines. Instead the Taycan comes with two electric motors on the front and rear axle. These motors put out a combined 616 bhp of power in normal model and 849 Nm of torque.
Switching to an overboost function mode can bump up power to 670 bhp on the Taycan Turbo and up to 750 bhp on the Taycan Turbo S. Torque shoots up to 1,049 Nm on the Turbo S. These cars have a top speed of 260 Kmph.
What’s interesting with the Taycan is that while electric cars don’t need a transmission and rely on a single speed gear, the Taycan has a two-speed reduction on its rear axle for better acceleration. The Taycan Turbo hits 100 kmph in 3 seconds, while the Turbo S does it in 2.6 seconds.
Claimed range on the Taycan is 450 Km per charge. It comes with a 93 kWh battery pack built into the floor of the vehicle. Instead of a 400 volt fast-charging system, the Taycan uses an 800-volt system. This reduces charging time to 23 minutes for a 5 percent to 80 percent battery charge.
The Taycan goes up against the likes of the Tesla S in terms of space and performance. It is more expensive than the Tesla Model S though, but has comparable performance and range.
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