Most Powerful Production Porsche Is So Insane It Needs to Pace Formula E Cars to Cool Off

The carmaker presented its new Taycan EV back in February and, with no trace of modesty whatsoever, immediately named it the most powerful series-production Porsche of all time. Just a quick look at the numbers behind this insane vehicle is enough to verify the statement.

The Taycan Turbo GT is an EV that uses electric motors mounted on both axles to move forward. And not just any motors, but hardware that can develop a combined 1,019 hp when overboost with launch control is used (778 hp in normal mode). And there is even a so-called Attack Mode that when engaged brings peak output, for brief periods of time, to 1,093 hp.

When presenting the new Taycan Porsche, something called the Weissach package was also released. That means a series of aerodynamic features intended to make the model a true track monster to shoot straight for new records – and it does so with an acceleration time of 62 mph in 2.2 seconds and a top speed of 190 mph (305 kph).

Just to give you a sense of what that means in terms of speed around a track, consider the fact the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with the Weissach package snatched the title of fastest electric series-production car at the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca the same month it was presented to the world, completing a full lap of the famous Californian circuit in 1:27.87 minutes.

The achievement is made even more impressive by the fact that a pre-production version of the same car lapped the Nürburgring in 7:07.55 minutes, setting a series-production electric cars class record and pushing the EV to the title of fastest four-door on the German circuit, no matter the powertrain.

The Taycan's track capabilities are in no small part owed to the experience Porsche earned in Formula E racing. That's because a number of components and solutions (including the Attack Mode) used here were previously tested (and by that I mean raced) on the 99X Electric, the race car that is presently the world champion in Formula E.

The current season of the competition is about halfway through, with the first race being held in January in Mexico City. This month, a doubleheader is planned for the weekend of May 11 in Berlin, and a similar format takes place at the end of the month in Shanghai.

Starting with the races in Berlin, Formula E cars will be paced, for the first time, by the new Taycan Turbo GT, driven by the same man who's been doing this for a long time now, Bruno Correia. And there will be not one car, but two of them (the main and backup), each wearing distinct features and colors.

Since its inception, the racing series for EVs has been paced by a BMW i8, a MINI electric, and more recently a previous variant of the Taycan.

One of the new pace cars wears the Weissach package with all its aerodynamic enhancements but also with no seats at the rear - this one is painted in Purple Sky metallic. The second car is the stock one, meaning it doesn't come with performance upgrades and features a full complement of seats. The color chosen for this variant is called Shade Green metallic.

Both vehicles have been modified to comply with the requirements of race car pacing. The cars thus come with warning lights, communications equipment the normal Taycans don't get and, of course, fire extinguishers.

The current season is Porsche's fifth in Formula E, where it competes with a factory crew called TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team. A second team, Andretti Formula E, uses the same 99X Electric for its exploits.

The current standings, after the series has burned through exactly half of its 16 races, places one of these Porsches, the one driven by TAG's Pascal Wehrlein, at the top, while Andretti's Jake Dennis comes in third. Dennis is the man who snatched the championship last year for his team and brought Porsche, for the first time, to the top of the racing series, ending a two-year win streak by Mercedes-EQ.

The other two drivers of the 99X Electric, Antonio Felix Da Costa (TAG) and Norman Nato (Andretti's), come in tenth and 13th, respectively.

The competition is quite fierce this season, as only 25 points, which is how much Formula E awards the winner of its races, separate the leader from the fifth position, meaning that no less than five riders are currently in play more than the rest to win the season.