Porsche Taycan: Swiftly moving between worlds

The driving presentation of the "basic" Taycan let us traverse between worlds: Between company car and dream car, between Baden and Württemberg, as the test track led through numerous hairpin bends from Zuffenhausen into the northern Black Forest, almost to Baden-Baden. What applied to the vehicle and the federal state also applied to the weather: from snowy sections in the highlands to dry sections near Zuffenhausen at plus ten degrees, everything was included.

So, we got in and started and: Barely any differences noticed compared to the more powerful brothers: The basic Taycan can also be set up very finely with many goodies – our test car, which arrived in the presentation color "Frozen Berry," had a matching interior in "Blackberry Slate Gray." With the basic Taycan, Porsche also introduces detailed improvements and additional, sometimes bold color combinations that stand out pleasantly and successfully from the usual white-gray-black. Thank you for that – these will be the sought-after special colors of tomorrow! Besides, every Porsche can indeed handle and suit color.

Which brings us to scrolling through the configurator before hitting the start button – something to avoid if you want to keep a three-digit gross leasing rate at the end. For this, you get a free color choice, leather, and some nice wheels. For just about 1000 euros, even the large battery could be included. So, if you can exercise some restraint, you stay under a 1000 euro gross leasing rate or under 100,000 euros gross total price before all deductions.

But now, finally started and off towards the Black Forest, which begins with a long speed limit in front of the Engelberg Tunnel. The Taycan shows a rather modest range of 318 kilometers – but this should be more than sufficient for the exact 177-kilometer long tour, right? The power consumption initially drops only in slow motion from a good 45 kWh/100 km to 38 kWh/100 km. Despite dawdling, it still shows around 33 kWh/100 km on the descent to Renningen. We fear the worst for the ascent into the Black Forest, but the Taycan continues to surprise us: The battery and electric motor are now up to operating temperature, and every passage through a village and lifting of the accelerator pedal further reduces the power thirst until we settle at values between 26 and 28 kWh/100 km. That’s acceptable for a four-door sports car with up to 476 hp in boost mode, although still a lot compared to Tesla's Model S.

Besides, a Porsche is meant to be fun, which is why we now end the somewhat fun-deprived dawdling and occasionally turn the "steam wheel"! In the sharpest mode "Sport+," the spaceship sound kicks in, and you can wonderfully zoom through the Black Forest's hairpin bends even in the base version. And because we are now more concerned with braking points and the ideal moment to accelerate out of the curves joyfully, we temporarily ignore the consumption. Despite unecological driving, it remains at the initially mentioned 26 (downhill) to 28 kWh/100 km (uphill) – and is thus within the range of a happily driven Tesla Model S.

The pass is fun even in the base version

If you don't completely disable the ESP, the Taycan allows the rear to slide out subtly and well-dosed in tight curves before the driving assistants skillfully catch it, and the whole car dedicates itself again to efficient forward drive – here, purely in Porsche's tradition, only via the rear hooves. It's fun, but in a direct comparison, the base model lacks the final touch of bite in its all-wheel-drive siblings to shoot out of the bends and the catapult-like acceleration of the Turbos is also foreign to it: If necessary, it sprints to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds, where the Turbo S manages in 2.8 seconds. Besides, in launch control, it has to settle for 345 respectively 357 Nm of torque, while the Turbo offers 850 Nm and the Turbo S even 1,050 Nm – you notice this in direct comparison, but in practice, you can almost never experience it. And: This has to be worth an extra 70,000 or 103,000 euros for Turbo or Turbo S respectively – in our opinion, too much for everyday use, where you seldom are alone with the Taycan to fully enjoy the Turbos' true potential often enough.

Noticeable advantages mainly in weight

Especially since the basic Taycan, thanks to the lack of a front electric motor, weighs significantly less than the all-wheel-drive siblings: In the basic configuration with a small battery, it starts at 2,050 kilograms according to Porsche, and the Performance Battery Plus raises the weight to 2,130 kilograms, still keeping it about 165 kilograms below Turbo and Turbo S, which both hover around 2.3 tons – this too is a noticeable difference, this time in favor of the base version. Because despite all the power: In tight terrain, 2.3 tons are simply physically noticeable.

And otherwise? Taycan-typical Porsche seating feel, clean workmanship, and subtle practical competence for four: Indeed, the Zuffenhausen team managed to create a formidable company car that parks precisely between the 911 and Panamera. And if the small trunk lid with its 407 liters of volume is too small, you can wait for the "station wagon" Cross Turismo, which also comes with a large tailgate but is visually farther away from the 911 than the Panamera is – but it also looks very good and would make a wonderful shooting brake as a two-door.

So we carve through Hirsau and Bad Wilbad, then over Weisenbach and Gernsbach through the Black Forest, before sharply turning right at the westernmost point of our route and flying up to Loffenau. Further on to Bad Herrenalb and Höfen an der Enz, before the route straightens out and flattens towards Bad Liebenzell and Württemberg. The same goes for the energy consumption, which now steadily drops from 26.0 kWh: Thanks also to the leisurely drive through the Engelberg tunnel, which we now roll down, we end at Porsche Platz 1 in Zuffenhausen at 24.5 kWh/100 km – for which we had a hell of a lot of fun! And we clearly undershot Porsche's upper consumption figure of 25.4 kWh/100. In the end, we would have covered 350 kilometers! Whether one might get below 20 kWh/100 km with a more economical driving style and approach the 484 kilometers of maximum range that Porsche claims will be clarified in a separate test.

What does that mean?

With the base Taycan, Porsche has a successful and damn sharp electric arrow in its quiver, sharply positioned between the worlds of company and sports cars, just as it is between fun and zero-emission vehicles, as well as between Baden and Württemberg.