Porsche Taycan review: range, battery & charging

There are currently five Porsche Taycan models available to order. The basic rear-wheel-drive car is simply badged 'Taycan'; above this sit the four-wheel-drive Taycan 4S, GTS, Turbo and Turbo S models.

Both the Taycan and Taycan 4S get two battery options. The cheaper 79kWh unit offers a usable capacity of 71kWh and a range of between 276 miles (Taycan) and 282 miles (Taycan 4S), while the bigger 93kWh battery (with nearly 84kWh usable capacity) boosts this to 314 and 318 miles respectively.

The GTS, Turbo and Turbo S get the bigger battery only, but as the latter two are so powerful, they sacrifice some range. Coming in behind the 100kWh unit in the Tesla Model S and the 108kWh giant in the Mercedes EQS, this is one of the biggest batteries you’ll find in any electric car, so between that and the rapid charging on offer, long-distance driving in the Porsche is very feasible.

Porsche Taycan range

The Taycan’s longest official range figures exceed the 300-mile mark, but the reality is that the bigger-battery models will likely do 230-250 miles in warmer weather with varied use. Cold weather affects the range of all electric cars, so expect around 200 miles from the smaller-battery models when the temperature drops.

In terms of real-world efficiency, we saw around 2.5 miles per kWh from the Turbo S in the mild, dry conditions that we drove it in; provided you don't drive it too hard, that equates to a range of 210 miles from the usable battery capacity of 83.7kWh. The Taycan and Taycan 4S will go a little further than that if you opt for the bigger battery – we found 220-230 miles easily achievable, even with a heavier-than-normal right foot.

We’re really impressed with the range calculator on Porsche’s website, which factors in things like the weather, wheel size, driving style and more to give you realistic distances to expect – hopefully other manufacturers will follow suit. Check it out to get an idea of the real-world range for the Taycan you fancy.

In July 2022, Porsche announced a software update that could be applied to all Taycans manufactured since the car went on sale. Among other features, it added the capability for the front motor in four-wheel-drive Taycans to disengage almost completely when decelerating or cruising steadily. It also improved the thermal management of the battery, with the results being improved efficiency and more range.

Charging

The Taycan has some of the best charging capabilities of any electric car on sale, with a maximum rate of 270kW possible using the car’s CCS port. It's worth noting, however, that this only applies to Taycans equipped with the larger Performance Battery Plus. Those with the smaller Performance Battery can only charge at up to 225kW.

If you can find a fast enough ultra-rapid charger, like the 350kW unit on the IONITY or Gridserve Electric Highway charging networks, a 10-80% top-up in the Taycan only takes around 20 minutes. A more common 50kW charger will perform the same task in about an hour and a half, while a 150kW charger will allow for a 10-80% charge on a bigger-battery Taycan in around 35 minutes.

What’s more annoying is that you have to add an optional 150kW on-board charger to be sure the Taycan can make the most of these increasingly common 100-150kW DC chargers. This is all because there are some older 'super-rapid' chargers that use a 400v electrical system, which, when plugged into the 800v system in the Taycan, will only charge at a maximum of 50kW.

Porsche reckons that around 95% of the 100-150kW chargers in the UK use the latest electrical system and will deliver the fastest possible charge into the Taycan even if you haven't added this option. However, if you’re going to do a lot of long distance journeys and a far amount of charging on the go, it's worth adding it and then you know that the Taycan will charge as fast as the charger allows, every time.

Our beef with this is that Porsche has chosen to make it optional. Charging is the most confusing part of electric-car ownership, and further complicating it for the sake of less than £300 on such an expensive car only exacerbates that. Still, just make sure that you add the 150kW DC Charger option and you have one of the fastest-charging electric cars on sale, limited only by the speed of the charger you plug into.

Of course, most owners will charge at home the vast majority of the time, where a full charge from a 7.4kW wallbox will take around 13 hours for the 93kWh battery or 11 hours for the 79kWh unit. There’s also a charging port on both front wings of the Taycan, which is super-convenient. While both will accept the Type 2 cable needed for a wallbox, only the driver’s side takes a CCS plug for rapid charging.

A software update (standard on all cars sold since March 2021 and installable on earlier examples) added extra charging functions to the Taycan. You can set a charge level for a journey’s completion. For example, you might want at least 80% charge left when you arrive at a hotel for the night – the system will tell you when and how much to charge up to achieve this. A lower-temperature but slightly slower charge mode has also been added, to help extend the life of the battery.