Photo: Porsche/edited by autoevolution
The presentation of new model years for cars can be pretty bland. Some of them get more equipment, a new color, different taillights, and other minor changes. The MY23 Porsche Taycan would have followed that tradition if it was not for a remarkable improvement: up to 14.2% (29 miles, or 46.7 kilometers) more range simply with “incremental software improvements.”
Porsche mentioned two changes that may have interfered with the improvements in the new Taycan. The first is that the front motor de-energizes in Normal and Range modes. That reduces parasitic loads. Another one is that the recuperation setting is retained when the person behind the steering wheel switches Drive Modes. However, this looks more like a convenience than an energy-efficiency improvement. If other software changes contributed to making the Taycan more frugal, Porsche did not tell us which they were.
The Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo was the one that presented the most relevant improvements. The 204-mile (328.2 km) EPA range the 2022 vehicle delivered is now at 233 mi (375 km), resulting in the 14.2% increase we mentioned before. The second derivative with the most meaningful changes was the Taycan Turbo Sedan: its range is 12.2% higher. It went from 212 mi (341.2 km) to 238 mi (383 km), a 26-mile (41.8 km) improvement.
If you are aware of the different testing procedures for the EPA range, you are probably asking yourself if Porsche decided to follow the one Tesla adopts. Most range tests only repeat the city and highway test cycles used by combustion-engined vehicles. EPA then applies an adjustment factor of 30%, meaning the official number is 30% inferior to what the Tests reveal.
Tesla prefers to adopt a testing method that includes three other test cycles to the original two. With that, it gets to use variable adjustment factors, all of them below 30%. Curiously, Audi also follows this strategy, but it is only Tesla and Polestar vehicles that do not manage to achieve their official EPA ranges in real life.
Porsche mentioned two changes that may have interfered with the improvements in the new Taycan. The first is that the front motor de-energizes in Normal and Range modes. That reduces parasitic loads. Another one is that the recuperation setting is retained when the person behind the steering wheel switches Drive Modes. However, this looks more like a convenience than an energy-efficiency improvement. If other software changes contributed to making the Taycan more frugal, Porsche did not tell us which they were.
The Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo was the one that presented the most relevant improvements. The 204-mile (328.2 km) EPA range the 2022 vehicle delivered is now at 233 mi (375 km), resulting in the 14.2% increase we mentioned before. The second derivative with the most meaningful changes was the Taycan Turbo Sedan: its range is 12.2% higher. It went from 212 mi (341.2 km) to 238 mi (383 km), a 26-mile (41.8 km) improvement.
If you are aware of the different testing procedures for the EPA range, you are probably asking yourself if Porsche decided to follow the one Tesla adopts. Most range tests only repeat the city and highway test cycles used by combustion-engined vehicles. EPA then applies an adjustment factor of 30%, meaning the official number is 30% inferior to what the Tests reveal.
Tesla prefers to adopt a testing method that includes three other test cycles to the original two. With that, it gets to use variable adjustment factors, all of them below 30%. Curiously, Audi also follows this strategy, but it is only Tesla and Polestar vehicles that do not manage to achieve their official EPA ranges in real life.
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