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Porsche Taycan: performance, motor & drive

The Porsche Taycan is extraordinarily fast by any measure, but its handling finesse is what makes it a milestone car

Overall rating

4.5 out of 5

Performance, motor & drive rating

5.0 out of 5

Price
£79,255 - £161,826
Fuel Type:
Electric

Model

0-62mph

Top speed

Driven wheels

Power

Taycan (71/84kWh) 

5.4s

143mph

Rear

402/469bhp

Taycan 4S (71/84Wh)

4.0s

155mph

Four

523/563bhp

Taycan GTS (84kWh)

3.7s

155mph

Four

590bhp

Taycan Turbo (84kWh)

3.2s

162mph

Four

671bhp

Taycan Turbo S (84kWh)

2.8s

162mph

Four

751bhp

If you’re concerned as to what will happen to performance cars when all models go electric, take a short drive in the Porsche Taycan and your fears will swiftly be quashed. With mind-bending acceleration and true Porsche sports car handling, the Taycan is amongst the fastest and most dynamic EVs out there and represents a momentous technological achievement by the German brand.

Porsche Taycan 0-62mph, top speed and acceleration

At launch, all Porsche Taycan models were offered with dual electric motors, however, there is now a new base model which instead makes use of a single, rear-mounted motor. Some might sniff at the base Taycan’s ‘measly’ 402bhp output (this figure is bumped slightly if you choose the bigger Performance Battery Plus) but ultimately, this figure is more than enough to provide the full Porsche sports car experience. It’s certainly more than most will need on public roads.

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If four-wheel-drive grip is important to you, you can step up to the mid-spec 523bhp 4S model for around £10,000 (eek!), which also benefits from an extra power bump if you choose the larger battery. From there, there’s also the drive-focused GTS, plus the Tesla Model S Plaid-rivalling Turbo and Turbo S, however, these seem a tad superfluous given how fast even the base Taycan is.

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Unusually for an electric car, the Taycan's rear motor uses a two-speed transmission (most make do with a single ‘gear’) in order to offer the best combination of performance from a standstill and efficiency at motorway speeds. The shift between the two is imperceptible; it's a really smooth car to drive – that is, unless you’re as tempted as we were to just floor the accelerator and enjoy the Taycan’s seemingly never-ending power.

Porsche claims the variable regenerative braking is powerful enough to do 90% of driving without touching the brake pedal at all, however we found that even the strongest of the two available settings wasn’t quite enough to slow the car sufficiently around town. It bleeds in smoothly and makes the Taycan easy to drive fluidly through awkward traffic, but we’d still favour steering-wheel paddles for more intuitive adjustment.

Handling

The Taycan weighs over two tonnes, but you’d never guess that based on how it drives: agile and responsive in corners, with a playful and communicative feel that belies its mass. Note that a lot of items that affect how the car drives are optional on lower-end models; we’d add the active anti-roll bars and four-wheel steering for best results. With all that fitted, the Taycan truly sets a new benchmark in terms of handling delight for electric cars; lightfooted yet confidence-inspiring and characterful, it's totally satisfying on the right road, despite its size.

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Yet, even the base model without all the performance gizmos is rather fantastic to drive. One extra we do recommend splashing out on, however, is the Sports Chrono package (around £1,000). Aside from a nifty clock-lap timer on the dashboard, you also get launch control and a variety of different drive modes, accessed via a rotary dial on the steering wheel, for your extra cash. Switching the Taycan into Sport or even Sport + dials the car in even more, making it feel incredibly sharp to drive – almost as much so as the petrol-powered 911 coupe.

You might think a low-riding sports saloon like the Taycan would make sacrifices when it comes to ride comfort, but this isn’t the case; all but the cheapest Taycan get adaptive air suspension which helps iron out the biggest lumps and bumps. Don’t get us wrong, a Mercedes EQS will still trump the Porsche with its cloud-like wafting, but the Taycan should be more than comfortable enough for longer motorway stints.

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Hello there, I’m Tom Jervis and I have the pleasure of being the Content Editor here at DrivingElectric. Before joining the team in 2023, I spent my time reviewing cars and offering car buying tips and advice on DrivingElectric’s sister site, Carbuyer. I also continue to occasionally contribute to the AutoExpress magazine – another of DrivingElectric’s partner brands. In a past life, I worked for the BBC as a journalist and broadcast assistant for regional services in the east of England – constantly trying to find stories that related to cars!

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