2021 Porsche Taycan review: not such a bright spark
Porsche’s rear-drive entry level electric Taycan falls flat
This was the Taycan I most looked forward to. It stood to reason: in my experience, the cheaper the Taycan the better it has been. No one needs the absurd punch of the Turbo and Turbo S when the far more affordable 4S is still startlingly rapid and thousands cheaper. This entry level Taycan would continue the trend, not least because it loses its front electric motor and driven wheels, making it the only rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive model on sale. It’s the Taycan’s answer to the 911.
Except that’s not how it turns out. The less-is-more principle that applies to the 911 fails to translate into the digital world. Because here pretty much the only exciting thing electric cars do is go fast, and this one doesn’t. Indeed its 0-62mph time compares unfavourably to that of a Ford SUV reviewed on the previous page. And, yes, too much performance is a real concept with electric cars in general and the Taycan in particular but so too, it turns out, is not enough.
Of course it is usefully (almost £13,000) cheaper than a 4S, but it only offers 11 miles of additional range and no extra luggage space where that front motor was located. You lose 90kg but that’s only four per cent total weight. It’s still part of the family of models which are the best electric cars on sale and if you just want a Taycan, in all other areas it’s as good as you’d expect, but the 4S was and remains the best of the breed.
Porsche Taycan with Performance Battery Plus statistics
- Price £70,690
- Engine Rear electric motor, 87.3kWh battery
- Power 375bhp (469bhp with launch control)
- Weight 2130kg
- Power to weight 176bhp per tonne
- Transmission Two-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
- 0-60mph 5.4sec
- Top speed 143mph
- Range 253-301 miles CO₂ N/A
- Verdict In the shadow of the 4S