Porsche Taycan Set to Strike Australia

Porsche Australia and New Zealand – Porsche E-Performance: The Porsche Taycan, the first all-electric Porsche sports car, is now available to order and arrives in Australia from December 2020. Crucial local information surrounding this hotly-anticipated addition to the Porsche model line-up has now been confirmed.

  

Porsche Taycan Turbo
Fuel consumption combined: 0 l/100 km
Electricity consumption combined: 28.0 kWh/100 km
CO2 emissions combined: 0 g/km

Porsche Taycan Turbo S
Fuel consumption combined: 0 l/100 km
Electricity consumption combined: 28.0 kWh/100 km
CO2 emissions combined: 0 g/km

Porsche Taycan 4S
Fuel consumption combined: 0 l/100 km
Electricity consumption combined: 27.0 – 26.2 kWh/100 km
CO2 emissions combined: 0 g/km

(all as of 10/2020)
The technical data may vary from country to country.

The Porsche Taycan connects the company’s past with its future. The first all-electric Porsche sports car is available to order now, with Australian deliveries to commence from December 2020. It’s not often that Porsche adds a new nameplate to its model line-up, let alone a revolutionary technology masterpiece such as the Taycan. The four-door sports sedan offers typical Porsche performance and connectivity with everyday usability. It has the soul of a Porsche, electrified.

“The highest compliment you can afford the Taycan is that it is a true Porsche sports car,” said Sam Curtis, CEO and Managing Director, Porsche Cars Australia. “It has the soul of a Porsche and all of the performance and luxury you would expect from one of our sports cars.”

The flagship Taycan Turbo S can generate up to 560 kilowatts of overboost power in combination with Launch Control and accelerates from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in just 2.8 seconds, the same acceleration figures as a 911 GT2 RS. Taycan Turbo S and Turbo models come standard with the Performance Battery Plus, featuring a capacity of 93.4 kilowatt hours. The Taycan 4S has a Performance Battery with capacity of 79.2 kilowatt hours as standard and offers the Performance Battery Plus as an option. The Taycan is the first production electric vehicle with a system voltage of 800 volts, instead of the usual 400 volts featured in many electric cars. This enables consistent high performance, reduces the charging time and decreases the weight and installation space of cabling. It also boasts a maximum peak charging capacity of 270 kilowatts (Performance Battery Plus).

With its clean design, the Taycan signals the beginning of a new era. At the same time, it retains the unmistakable Porsche design DNA.

The fast sloping roof line is inspired by the 911. A typical Porsche feature is the active aerodynamics, including the rear spoiler, which can be extended in three stages depending on the driving situation. The Porsche Advanced Cockpit signals the start of a new era with its clear structure and a completely new architecture. The free-standing, curved instrument cluster forms the highest point on the dashboard. This places a clear focus on the driver axis. A central, 10.9-inch infotainment display and an optional passenger display are combined to form an integrated glass band in a black-panel look.

All user interfaces have been newly designed for the Taycan. The number of classic hardware controls such as switches and buttons has been greatly reduced. Instead, control is intelligent and intuitive—using touch operation or the voice control function, which responds to the command ‘Hey Porsche’.

The Taycan has two electric motors, one on the front axle and one on the rear axle, thus making the cars all-wheel drive. Both the range and the continuous power of the drive benefit from the high efficiency of the permanently excited synchronous motors.

Ways to charge in Australia:

Ways to charge in Australia:

High Performance Charging, Porsche Destination Charging and Home Charging.
New addition:

New addition:

The Taycan is the first all-electric Porsche and the first new nameplate in the model line-up since the Macan.

The motors, two-speed gearbox and pulse-controlled inverters are each combined into a  compact drive module. The modules have the highest power density (kilowatts per litre of package space) of all electric powertrains on the market today. The two-speed gearbox installed on the rear axle is an innovation developed by Porsche. First gear gives the Taycan even more acceleration from a standing start, while second gear with a long gear ratio ensures high efficiency and equally high power reserves. This also applies at very high speeds.

The Taycan uses a centrally networked control system for the chassis. The integrated Porsche 4D Chassis Control analyses and synchronises all chassis systems in real time. The innovative chassis systems include adaptive air suspension with three-chamber technology including Porsche Active Suspension Management, electronic damper control, as well as the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control Sport electromechanical roll stabilisation system including Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus.

The all-wheel drive control with two electric motors and the recuperation system are unique. At up to 265 kilowatts, the potential recuperation power is significantly higher than that of competitors. Driving tests have shown that approximately 90 percent of everyday braking is performed by the electric machines alone—without the hydraulic wheel brakes needing to be activated.

Porsche Cars Australia has partnered with Chargefox, Australia’s largest EV charging network operator.

The profile of the different driving modes basically follows the same philosophy as in other Porsche model series. This is supplemented by special settings which enable optimum use of the purely electric drive. Four driving modes are available: ‘Range’, ‘Normal’, ‘Sport’ and ‘Sport Plus’. In addition, individual systems can be configured as required in the ‘Individual’ mode.

In Australia, owners will have several ways to charge their Taycan, including High Performance Charging, Porsche Destination Charging and Home Charging. Porsche Cars Australia has partnered with Chargefox, Australia’s largest EV charging network operator. Taycan owners will receive a complimentary three year subscription to the Chargefox Ultra-Rapid DC charging network (up to 350 kilowatts), and complimentary charging at selected Chargefox-managed fast DC charging sites.* Locations can be found in the Chargefox app.

* Access to complimentary Chargefox charging services is subject to customers downloading the Chargefox app and accepting Chargefox’s terms and conditions.


As well as the Chargefox network, Porsche is also partnering with premium lifestyle destinations such as luxury hotels, theatres, restaurants, shopping precincts and cellar door locations to install ‘Porsche Destination Chargers’. These destinations can be viewed on porsche.com.au. But the majority of charging will most likely be done at home. When purchasing a Taycan, Porsche Centre sales consultants are able to arrange a Home Check service from JET Charge in order to determine installation requirements for charging at home.

Sam Curtis behind the wheel of the new Taycan:

Sam Curtis behind the wheel of the new Taycan:

Curtis says that Taycan owners can expect to feel a true Porsche sports car when they get behind the wheel.

Performance from race to road

To be a true Porsche sports car, performance not only has to be available, but also repeatable. Australian racing star and Porsche brand ambassador Mark Webber was involved in the development and testing of the Taycan. His experience driving the Porsche 919 Hybrid, a car that influenced much of the technology in the Taycan, was invaluable when it came to his input. As was his skill at pushing cars to their absolute limit—something Porsche encouraged.

“I’ve driven it a lot on the race track. As usual, the brief was ‘go out there and drive it as hard as you want, as quickly as you want’,” said Webber.

“You need to have an underlying brutality of performance. As Porsche drivers, we want to have our cake and eat it too. We want high-end performance, but we want to be able to take it on the street.

“The highest compliment you can afford the Taycan is that it is a true Porsche sports car.” Sam Curtis

“How does it stop? How does it turn? What is the response like? How is the body roll? How is the 4WD component? How is the torque distribution? The R&D process has been extremely challenging. But because of our racing history and the resources that Porsche has thrown at this, we have landed on something unique.”

Webber admits that he was no electric vehicle evangelist initially. But his time in the 919 Hybrid was a turning point.

“Before I drove race cars with electric power, I was on the fence at best. I’ve driven some seriously, seriously impressive internal combustion engine cars in my life. But when I got the chance to sample the 919 Hybrid for the first time, the sheer torque and the four-wheel drive acceleration of the car was massive. In testing, none of the drivers wanted to drive the car if the electric component of the powertrain was disabled. It was only half the car without it.”

Webber says that Taycan owners will not be disappointed, with elements of the 919 Hybrid, including the use of an 800 volt architecture, transferred over to the Taycan.

“What makes the Taycan a Porsche is its performance. The driving experience, how engaged you are with the car—despite no noise.

“The aerodynamics and the drag coefficient are extremely slick. The seating position, the finish of the interior … all of the Porsche DNA is in there. I’m confident that Taycan owners in Australia are in for a pleasant surprise.”

Alexis Truscott
Alexis Truscott

Head of Public Relations, Porsche Cars Australia