Photo: Porsche
The Porsche Taycan did something no other EV managed to do before it: make Tesla slightly afraid. The US car company reacted quickly just as news of the Nürburgring times of the then-upcoming Taycan started circulating in the media.
In record time, Tesla installed a Supercharger at the famous German racetrack, put together two Model S prototypes tuned for track work, and attempted to show everyone who the boss was. The results are still not clear, but they don't really matter that much since Tesla is still the undisputed leader of the EV segment as a whole.
However, the jerk reaction from Elon Musk's company showed it's not immune to new players on the market, and it might have had an unwanted effect: it put the spotlight on Porsche's first-ever battery-powered model even more than it already was.
Subsequent tests reveal the spoils are split between the Taycan and the Model S as far as performance goes. The former will undoubtedly cross a racetrack finish ahead of the latter, while the roles will be reversed in a quarter mile drag race. Make the distance longer than that, and the two-speed transmission of the Taycan will give it the edge, continuing to pick up speed well after the Tesla starts to lose breath.
It's that two-speed transmission that was identified as one of 27 new developments the Porsche Taycan brought by a panel of independent scientists from The Center of Automotive Management (CAM) at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. They studied roughly 250 different cars before awarding this year's prize to the all-electric sports sedan, citing that of the 27 innovations, 13 (nearly half) were world-firsts.
“We are delighted that our first all-electric sports car has so quickly achieved a place on the top step of the podium in the AutomotiveINNOVATIONS awards," said Oliver Blume, Porsche CEO. "Both order book and customer feedback are very positive,” he added, hinting at the fact that it's not just scientists in white robes who appreciate the Taycan, but also hardcore drivers.
It'll be hard to find room for this new award on the Taycan's already crowded fireplace mantel after bagging the World Car of the Year 2020 in both World Performance Car and World Luxury Car categories (by World Car Awards), the Car of the Year and Game Changer of the Year from BBC's Top Gear magazine, as well as the German Car of the Year (2020). We don't want to place any pressure on the second-born, but Porsche's next EV will have some pretty big shoes to fill.
However, the jerk reaction from Elon Musk's company showed it's not immune to new players on the market, and it might have had an unwanted effect: it put the spotlight on Porsche's first-ever battery-powered model even more than it already was.
Subsequent tests reveal the spoils are split between the Taycan and the Model S as far as performance goes. The former will undoubtedly cross a racetrack finish ahead of the latter, while the roles will be reversed in a quarter mile drag race. Make the distance longer than that, and the two-speed transmission of the Taycan will give it the edge, continuing to pick up speed well after the Tesla starts to lose breath.
It's that two-speed transmission that was identified as one of 27 new developments the Porsche Taycan brought by a panel of independent scientists from The Center of Automotive Management (CAM) at the University of Applied Sciences in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. They studied roughly 250 different cars before awarding this year's prize to the all-electric sports sedan, citing that of the 27 innovations, 13 (nearly half) were world-firsts.
“We are delighted that our first all-electric sports car has so quickly achieved a place on the top step of the podium in the AutomotiveINNOVATIONS awards," said Oliver Blume, Porsche CEO. "Both order book and customer feedback are very positive,” he added, hinting at the fact that it's not just scientists in white robes who appreciate the Taycan, but also hardcore drivers.
It'll be hard to find room for this new award on the Taycan's already crowded fireplace mantel after bagging the World Car of the Year 2020 in both World Performance Car and World Luxury Car categories (by World Car Awards), the Car of the Year and Game Changer of the Year from BBC's Top Gear magazine, as well as the German Car of the Year (2020). We don't want to place any pressure on the second-born, but Porsche's next EV will have some pretty big shoes to fill.
Google News