Report Porsche Taycan 1,111 Kilometer Challenge: The Great Struggle for Percentages

The challenge is emblazoned in large digits on the door of the Taycan Cross Turismo 4S: 1,111 kilometers. The distance we are supposed to cover as quickly as possible today. Four charging stations are required: in Bingen, Würzburg, Ingolstadt, as well as at the start and end point in Koblach in Vorarlberg, Austria. Quite a decent stretch to tackle. The Porsche team stokes our ambition: "The record time is eleven hours." Only to immediately add: "Two had to stop because they ran out of power."

These words are burned into our minds as we, together with a colleague from Berlin, get into the 440 kW / 598 hp electric car. Stranded! The primal fear of every electric car driver. When we press the button to the left of the steering wheel, the powerhouse from Zuffenhausen comes to life. What we see when we activate the first target, the charging station in Bingen, drives the fatigue from our limbs and replaces it with adrenaline. The software predicts that we would reach the saving refuge of the charging stations with a charge level of minus 22 percent. Minus 22 percent! Shock and horror! We can already see ourselves as the third team of the Taycan Challenge stranded on the roadside, smiling sympathetically at the tow truck staff as the €192,000 Porsche hangs from the hook.

We can only charge at the lounges

We dare the adventure. Even though we know that the system's calculation is based on the average speed of previous drivers and that the last two stages are significantly faster than the first, a queasy feeling remains. So, we take it slow at first. First, get the charge forecast into positive and then we’ll see further. Ahead of us lies 441 kilometers before the E-Porsche can charge again. So we creep along the fog-covered highway at 100 km/h while the fellow competitors wave as they pass us by. We deactivate the Charging Planner, as the system suggests charging stops that are prohibited in the Taycan Challenge. We are only allowed to get energy from the four Porsche Charging Lounges.

Like winning the lottery: The orange one on the display

The first kilometers are behind us, but the arrival indicator simply won’t decrease. A red double-digit number still mockingly grins at us in the instrument display. As if to tell us, “Forget it, you’ll never make it!” However, the light accelerator foot pays off and the prediction decreases. When the red number becomes single-digit, we breathe a sigh of relief. For the first time, a glimmer of hope shines on the electric horizon. When the orange one on the display finally signals that we won’t be stranded if we maintain this speed, we celebrate it like winning the lottery. The maximum penalty seems averted. Now the tide turns, the forecast improves. When we reach five percent, we go on the offensive with speed and accelerate. Gradually, we overtake the other Taycans. The battle for the orange one, the charge state that guarantees safety, continues unabated. Every sprint causes the percentage to drop again. We keep a constant eye on the display and activate battery conditioning to keep the pit stop as short as possible. We nearly make a perfect landing and roll up to the pillars of the Porsche charging station in Bingen with only two percent left.
 

Stylishly Made Lounge

Bingen? Not a place that immediately comes to mind when you think of a charging station. But the Porsche electric strategists know exactly what they are doing. That’s why they open their charging stations on the main traffic arteries most frequently used by Taycan drivers. So, also this one, not far from the A60/A61 highway junction. The small detour is worth it. At the Porsche stations, all charging points are covered, there is a lounge where you can buy drinks and snacks, and they offer significantly more comfort than the standard charging stations, which often stand in the furthest corner of a plain highway parking lot.

While the Taycan is sipping on the energy bottle with up to 318 kW, we plan our strategy for the next few hours. Simply blazing away would not be effective. It is 190 kilometers to the next charging station in Würzburg. A maximum of four stations are available. However, there are six cars participating in the Taycan Challenge. Those who arrive late must wait. So, we unplug at 75 percent and off we go. The plan works out. Just behind the colleagues from Sweden, we are the second to pass the barrier at the next charging station in Würzburg. So, out of the car and plug in immediately. The charge level indicator shows nine percent. One by one, the other cars arrive, while our charging status bar rises quickly.

Temporarily over 300 kW Charging Power

While the Porsche, like all the others by the way, occasionally refills with more than 300 kW of current (our Taycan even achieved the maximum performance of 320 kW), we plan the strategy for the last two stages. The experience of the last several hundred kilometers shows that the charge status software works very accurately. However, zero also means zero. Skirting the battery is therefore too risky. A careful study of the route helps. Behind Frankfurt, the A3 towards Nuremberg is expanded and there is a speed limit. After that, there is a longer construction section before the highway becomes freer again until Ingolstadt. So, better to charge a little more to maintain a higher speed longer. While the first ones are already on their way, we give the battery a few extra percent. We finish charging at 79 percent. The move pays off. We make an extended sprint and reach Ingolstadt first.