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First drive: 2024 Porsche Taycan (with Performance Battery Plus). Image by Porsche.

First drive: 2024 Porsche Taycan (with Performance Battery Plus)
Combining a big battery with a single electric motor, this is the long-range version of the new Taycan, but is it the best of the bunch?

   



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2024 Porsche Taycan

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Porsche has made some subtle tweaks to the successful Taycan electric saloon, and one of the most notable is the new Performance Battery Plus, designed to increase the car's range and power. To see whether it's worth the metal it's made from, we tested it in the basic, single-motor Taycan model. Will this, the Taycan with the longest range, prove the most desirable of them all?

Test Car Specifications

Model: 2024 Porsche Taycan (with Performance Battery Plus)
Price: Taycan from £86,500; Performance Battery Plus from £90,954
Motor: 210kW electric motor
Transmission: single-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Battery: 105kWh lithium-ion battery (97kWh net)
Power: 435hp
Torque: 420Nm
Emissions: 0g/km
Range: 421 miles
0-62mph: 4.8 seconds
Top speed: 143mph
Boot space: 407 litres (plus 84-litre front storage)

Styling

In truth, Porsche hasn't done an awful lot to the Taycan's design. Look closely and you might notice new headlights with a fresh take on the four-point light signature and new front wings, but that's about it. The basic shape remains more or less unaltered, and that's fine by us. The Taycan is a handsome car, particularly in Sport Turismo estate form, but even the saloon is a modern and contemporary piece of automotive design that's easy on the eye.

Interior

Just as the Taycan's exterior design has only changed fractionally, the cabin hasn't changed much either. The basic layout is still the same, with a lower touchscreen for climate controls and other features, while an upper touchscreen controls the media system and navigation. They're both joined by a digital instrument display.

While Porsche has upgraded those systems with its latest operating system technology, they haven't changed all that much, and you'd have to be familiar with the outgoing model to spot the difference. But the new software is sharper and more modern, and the screens are all fairly user friendly, even if the lower touchscreen has some odd haptic feedback.

Generally speaking, build quality is every bit as robust as before, with premium materials slotted together perfectly, and a general feeling of solidity in the cabin. It may not be especially imaginative or exciting in there, but it's definitely still a premium product.

Practicality

Practicality isn’t really what the Taycan is all about – it’s more of a sports car that happens to have four doors than a four-door saloon that happens to be sporty – but that doesn’t mean it can’t hold its own. The 407-litre boot is larger than that of its closest rival, the Audi e-tron GT, and there’s a further 84 litres of storage under the bonnet, which comes in handy at times. Cabin space is very generous up front, and though those in the back might struggle for headroom, rear legroom is ample for adults.

Performance

Taycan customers get a wide selection of powertrain options, with differing battery sizes and a choice of single- and twin-motor layouts, but perhaps the most appealing is the Taycan tested here with the Performance Battery Plus option. In essence, it's a standard Taycan with a single motor driving the rear wheels and a battery under the floor, but where a base model gets an 89kWh battery (of which 82.3kWh is usable), the Performance Battery Plus option increases that to 97kWh of usable capacity.

It's a considerable upgrade, and it's supplemented by a power hike from 408hp to 435hp. Nevertheless, the bigger battery still provides a massive official range of up to 421 miles on the official economy test. And if you think such a range is the stuff of bureaucratic fantasy, think again. We managed a 410-mile range on the motorway, and backed that up on the second charge with efficiency that would afford a range of around 380 miles. Even if conditions are far from perfect, we'd expect most customers to manage well over 300 miles on a single charge almost every time.

And though this is the Taycan model with the longest range, performance is hardly sluggish. Getting from 0-62mph takes less than five seconds, and the top speed is more than 140mph. It may not sound special by Porsche standards, but it's still pretty quick, and the electric motor means all that power is delivered instantly, with no waiting for the gearbox to kick down or the turbo to spool up. It's savagely immediate.

Ride & Handling

For all this version of the Taycan’s range and power, it’s still a sports saloon, and that means it has to corner as well as it accelerates. Fortunately, the new Taycan is every bit as brilliant as its predecessor on that front.

With all the power going to the back wheels it feels almost as pure and intuitive as the 911, albeit in a slightly softer and less focussed way. Yes, this may be the best-handling car in its class – the steering is awesome, the body control is excellent and the car feels poised and agile – but it still has half an eye on comfort.

The ride isn’t exactly soft, but it is quite supple, allowing it to soak up the bumps without completely isolating you from their presence. It’s just another way for the car to provide you with feedback via the seat of your pants. And if you switch the driving modes up, the Sport Plus mode sacrifices a little comfort for even better control of that body, leaving very little roll in corners and the nose darting into corners greedily. It’s a fantastic car to drive fast.

But because it’s still fairly comfortable, visibility is reasonable and it’s easy to drive, it copes well around town, too. It clearly isn’t the Taycan’s home turf, but it deals with urban roads well enough, even offering acceptable levels of manoeuvrability.

Value

Taycan prices start at £86,500, but the Performance Battery Plus commands a premium of around £4,500. And while that pays for more range and power, it doesn't add to a standard equipment level that is adequate without being generous. The two touchscreens and digital instrument display are standard, along with climate control and a reversing camera, but the head-up display and adaptive cruise control are optional extras. Realistically, then, you're looking at spending more than £100,000 to get the Taycan you want. Even so, with the basic Audi S e-tron GT costing £108,680, that actually looks like pretty good value.

Verdict

For us, this is the Taycan of choice. The power output may not be as impressive as that of some two-motor Taycan models, but it's more than adequate, while a real-world motorway range of 400 miles is impossible to fault. Especially when it's backed up by 320kW charging. As a result, we have to conclude that this is not only the best Taycan on the market, but the best electric car you can buy right now.



James Fossdyke - 25 Dec 2024



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2024 Porsche Taycan Performance Battery Plus. Image by Porsche.2024 Porsche Taycan Performance Battery Plus. Image by Porsche.2024 Porsche Taycan Performance Battery Plus. Image by Porsche.2024 Porsche Taycan Performance Battery Plus. Image by Porsche.2024 Porsche Taycan Performance Battery Plus. Image by Porsche.

2024 Porsche Taycan Performance Battery Plus. Image by Porsche.2024 Porsche Taycan Performance Battery Plus. Image by Porsche.2024 Porsche Taycan Performance Battery Plus. Image by Porsche.2024 Porsche Taycan Performance Battery Plus. Image by Porsche.2024 Porsche Taycan Performance Battery Plus. Image by Porsche.








 

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