What's all this about?

The Porsche Taycan electric vehicle (EV) has been a phenomenal success for the German company. In 2020 alone, Stuttgart shifted 20,000 of the things worldwide and, here in the UK, it managed to shove the previously all-conquering Cayenne down to third place on Porsche's list of top-selling vehicles. So it makes sense that, following on from a fleshing out of the saloon Taycan EV range, there'd be a spin-off vehicle to further broaden the scope of Porsche's EV offerings. And here it is: the Taycan Cross Turismo. It's undergoing final testing ahead of a full debut in early March and a European launch in summer.

Cross Turismo? So it's a... *swallows loudly* crossover?

Yes, kind of like a blending of the Taycan with a dash of Panamera Sport Turismo mixed in and then drizzled with a soupcon of Macan. But stop fretting; this is Porsche we're talking about. The Cross Turismo might have to take on environments, like gravel tracks and muddy lanes, that the Taycan EV saloon never will, meaning it rides higher and is likely going to be very substantial of mass when the figures are revealed, but Porsche knows what it is doing when it comes to making tall/heavy vehicles handle well.

There's no confirmation as yet, but expect the Cross Turismo to have broadly the same model hierarchy as the Taycan saloon, with one exception. Because, while it's likely that 4S, Turbo and Turbo S models will be available, a rear-wheel-drive variant won't be possible because the Cross Turismo is expected to go off road.

To that end, Porsche has put the Taycan Cross Turismo through its paces at the extremes of modern motoring as part of its lengthy development programme, which is now drawing to a close. So, on the one hand, it has had to pound around the Nürburgring Nordschleife and Hockenheim's GP circuit to show it can handle like a sports car, while on the other it has been mud-plugging and adventuring in the south of France and the Pyrenees to see if it can take on the rough stuff like an off-roader (of sorts; more anon). It has also done the relevant cold and hot weather testing in various environments, put in 325 hours in Porsche's wind tunnel (to go on top of the 1,500 logged by the Taycan saloon during its own development stages) and the company has even checked the bike carrier option for the back of it to ensure it won't significantly or detrimentally affect the way the Cross Turismo drives both on- and off-road. In total, Cross Turismo prototypes have done enough distance to go around the equator almost 25 times (that's 620,353 miles, in case you're wondering).

So you're broadly hopeful, then, for this Swiss Army knife on wheels?

Wait a minute, have you been reading news stories on the Cross Turismo elsewhere?! Because Stefan Weckbach, vice-president model line for Porsche, said: "When developing the Cross Turismo, we were of course able to build on our experience with the Taycan sports saloon. The biggest challenge was combining the requirements of sportiness with off-road capabilities. The Cross Turismo has to be capable of high performance on the race track and must also be able to handle scree, mud and gravel. The result is impressive. However, the Cross Turismo is not a hardcore off-road vehicle, but specialises in unpaved and dirt roads. It's like a type of Swiss Army knife on up to 21-inch wheels."

They say great minds think alike and all that. Anything else to report on the Cross Turismo?

Not really, aside from the fact it has more headroom for passengers sat in the second row and, most obviously of all as it's an estate, there's a bigger boot to play with. Porsche also says it will have the 'superior performance and long range' of the Taycan EVs, so we're very much looking forward to trying this one out for size.