Even though it still isn’t in production, the Taycan is the fastest four-door electric vehicle to have ever lapped the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The 20.6-kilometer track has been lapped in 7:42 by test driver Lars Kern, driving a pre-series model with black and blue camouflage.
It should be mentioned the car features all-wheel drive thanks to a pair of electric motors, as well as Porsche 4D-Chassis Control technology, Porsche Active Suspension Management, Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control Sport, and Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus. Rear-axle steering and 21-inch tires were also fitted to the record-breaking Taycan.
The first production vehicle with a system voltage of 800 volts, the Taycan made full use of the powertrain’s potential in Sport Plus mode. This optimizes the cooling and heating strategy of the battery for maximum performance, opening the cooling flaps and extending the rear spoiler early to minimize aerodynamic lift.
At the end of July 2019, another pre-series vehicle accelerated from zero to 200 km/h (124 mph) no fewer than 26 successive times. Porsche averaged less than 10 seconds to that velocity, and the difference between the fastest and slowest runs was 0.8 seconds. All in all, a pretty impressive package given that the Taycan is Porsche’s first-ever electric vehicle.
“The Taycan is also suitable for race tracks and it convincingly proved that here on the world’s most challenging circuit,” explained Lars Kern. “Again and again, I am impressed at how stable the all-electric sports car handles in high-speed sections such as Kesselchen, and how neutrally it accelerates from tight sections such as Adenauer Forst.”
Also as part of testing, the Taycan completed 3,425 kilometers (2,128 miles) within 24 hours at the Nardò high-speed ring and adjacent tracks. In both instances, Porsche used the pre-series Taycan Turbo which is supposed to cost “over $130,000 before options.”
The Taycan 4S and regular Taycan are expected to cost in the high and low $90,000s, and U.S. dealerships are already taking $2,500 deposits for the first model year. The all-electric sports sedan will be revealed next month at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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