Porsche Taycan Video Reviews

The current (first) generation Porsche Taycan, the German brand's first pure-electric car, has reached mid life. But far from suffering a crisis it's been upgraded with more power so it's even faster. It also charges more rapidly with an extended range and a cosmetic refresh. The dynamics have been tweaked and the standard features list has lengthened as prices have gone up. Take a ride with us.

Want a hi-po EV but miss the feeling of a rear-wheel drive performance car? Porsche might have the answer with the new rear-wheel drive Taycan.

The 4S sits below the mid-range Turbo and flagship Turbo S in the Porsche Taycan line-up, with it priced from $190,400 plus on-road costs.Standard equipment includes three-chamber air suspension with adaptive dampers, cast-iron brakes (360mm front and 358mm rear discs with six- and four-piston calipers respectively), dusk-sensing LED headlights, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, 20-inch 'Sport Aero' alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, a power-operated tailgate and black exterior trim.Inside, keyless entry and start, satellite navigation with live traffic, Apple CarPlay support, digital radio, a 710W Bose sound system with 14 speakers, a heated steering wheel, 14-way power-adjustable front seats with heating and cooling, and dual-zone climate control feature.ANCAP hasn’t awarded the Taycan line-up a safety rating yet. Advanced driver-assist systems in all grades extend to autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, surround-view cameras, front and rear parking sensors, and tyre pressure monitoring.The 4S is powered by two permanent magnet synchronous electric motors, which are split between the front and rear axles to enable all-wheel drive, with the former fitted with a single-speed automatic transmission, while the latter has a two-speed unit. Together, they produce up to 390kW of power and 640Nm of torque. Electricity use on the combined-cycle test (ADR 81/02) is 26.2kWh/100km, while driving range is 365km. 

Porsche now has an electric car, the very fast and very clever Taycan (that's Thai-Khan, btw). And for a company built on a long history of conventional horsepower, it's a Very Big Deal.