They say you can't escape your past and the new Porsche Taycan -- which is ostensibly an all-electric 4-door coupé -- is very much a Porsche sports car at its core meant to tear through time and space. In the Taycan's case, that means doing zero to 98 km/h (60 mph) in a blitz fast 2.6 seconds.
Porsche unveiled the Taycan Wednesday at simultaneous events in Germany, China and Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Porsche's first fully electric vehicle will enter production at its Zuffenhausen, Germany facility later this year. Porsche expects to produce 40,000 units of this beast annually, which is enough to worry the folks at Tesla Inc. that don't have anything quite like the Taycan this near to production.
Tesla's newest competitor is powered by two PSM permanently excited synchronous electric motors. One motor drives the front axle while the other powers the rear axle. Both motors are projected to generate in excess of a hefty 440 kW (590 bhp).
The motors generate up to 670 hp and 626 pounds of torque on the Turbo model, and 750 hp and 774 pounds of torque on the Turbo S. Those powerplants draw power from a 93.4kWh battery pack.
Taycan can zoom from zero to 100 km/h in less than 3.5 seconds. It can get to 200 km/h in less than12 seconds. The machine has a top speed more than 250 km/h (155 mph).
Each wheel is individually controlled by the Porsche Torque Vectoring system. Porsche is working to get Taycan to achieve a range of more than 500 km (311 miles) from its current 400 km (250 miles).
Porsche said the Taycan's quick charging capability allows this electric vehicle (EV) to charge from five to 80 percent in only 22.5 minutes using a high-powered charging station capable of delivering 270kW.
All these great specs come at a price, though. The Taycan Turbo starts at an eye-opening $153,310 at launch while the Turbo S will make a $187,610 dent in your wallet. If it's any consolation, these two babies are somewhat cheaper than the iconic Porsche 911 Turbo and Turbo S.
Porsche is counting on its large and loyal base of owners to see the price as a more than adequate trade-off for the Taycan's superior performance.
Tesla owners will notice the price tag on both Taycans is a lot more expensive than the most expensive Tesla Model S, which comes in at more than $100,000.
Porsche will deliver its first Taycan's by the end of the year to those that paid the required deposit. Porsche claims 20,000 people worldwide did so. It also claims half this number are new to the Porsche.
"I would say that the Taycan is a big threat to the Model S," said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of industry analysis for the auto website Edmunds. "The Model S is old. It was a great design but it's pretty long in the tooth at this point."
