Porsche is understandably very excited, almost to the point of spinning off a table, about launching their very first fully electric vehicle, the Taycan (formerly known as the Mission E). However, plenty in the motoring sphere, and probably employed by automaker themselves, are feeling a pinch of trepidation as it will mark the biggest philosophical departure yet for the company.
Though the first Taycans will be on sale in Europe by late 2019, Australians keen on the zero emissions Porsche will need wait until 2020 for it to arrive on local shores. That said, we will be on the first markets to receive the car south of the equator.
To generate some hype around that forthcoming launch, Porsche Australia have set up an open air exhibit in Barangaroo in Sydney called Future Lab where passers by can stop and admire the Mission E concept, which according to the information so far, is a rather faithful estimate on what the finished Taycan will look like.
The pop up exhibit will also feature more information on the technology that will make the car possible as well as shed more light into the company’s vision for post-combustion motoring. As contrast, they’ve even got a classic 356 coupe on display, replete with white wall tyres, to underline how much the brand has evolved as well as analogise Porsche’s original sports car as being as unorthodox and daring back in its day as the Taycan probably will be for the 21st century.
From what we know so far, the EV will use its two axle-mounted synchronous electric motors to generate a combined output of 440kW. Being both an electric car and a Porsche, its sub-3.5 second to 100km/h acceleration time has to be backed up by class-leading handling, something Mark Webber is deeply involved in as on the of the project’s main development drivers.
Give 12 seconds from rest, and Porsche says the Taycan will hit 200km/h, which is impressive, but we doubt the car’s top speed can rival that of any present-day combustion flagship sports car just due to the gear-less nature of most EVs.
Drive it conservatively and perhaps the 500km+ range estimate is regularly achievable, but when it does come time to replenish the floor-mounted batteries, Porsche is banking on its 800-volt vehicle architecture and external 350kW fast-charging tech to make the interval between drives as short as possible with existing technology. Should the infrastructure kinks be worked out, the system is said to be capable of charging the cells back up to 80 percent capacity in less than 20 minutes.
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