New Porsche Taycan review

Some might say the Porsche Taycan was quite late to the electric car party. Others would argue that by biding its time and making sure its first modern all-electric model was a good ’un, Porsche did the right thing. Either way, there's no arguing with the result.

Straight out of the blocks, the Taycan was brilliant. Not just supremely fast, but also easily the best electric car to drive. Indeed, it's so engaging and enjoyable that it compares well with petrol-powered performance models as well as all its electrified rivals.

Time waits for no one, though, so Porsche has treated the Taycan to a host of updates to keep it up to speed. As well as trying to make it even better to drive, it's worked to make it more usable. For instance, the range and charging speeds have been increased.

That said, some things remain the same. It’s still a low-slung car with space for four adults and a reasonably big boot. And Porsche still offers you options when it comes to the bodystyle. Here, we're concentrating on the four-door saloon, but you can also have the sleek, estate-like Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo or the more rugged-looking Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo.

Is all that enough to maintain the Taycan’s attractiveness against the closely-related Audi E-tron GT and other rivals? Let's find out...

In terms of handling, the Porsche Taycan is in a different league to every other electric car except its Audi E-tron GT sister. And even that can't quite match the exceptional balance and resistance to body lean that the Taycan delivers.

The steering is also impressive, offering a little more heft than the E-tron GT's, and giving you a far better sense of connection to the road than you get with the Mercedes EQS.

Every millimetre of movement of the Taycan's steering wheel has a subtle but positive influence on the car’s trajectory – something that really inspires confidence. Plus, you can tighten the turning circle with optional rear-wheel steering (standard on the Turbo S) so it feels like a much smaller car around town but gains stability at speed.

So far we've driven the latest Taycan with the optional Porsche Active Ride suspension. It reacts very quickly if, say, you hit a speed bump or pothole, softening the suspension in milliseconds to take the sting out of imperfections.

Another trick up its sleeve is the ability to counter body lean. With Active Ride fitted, the Taycan in Comfort drive mode leans into a curve, aiming to reduce the cornering forces you feel pushing you sideways. It works to a degree, but if you’re pressing on you still feel the forces trying to push you out of your seat.

Nevertheless, the Taycan is one of the best-riding cars in the class – not just because of how compliant it feels, but also because it’s so well controlled and settles quickly after a bump. That’s why it rides better than the EQS, which is softer but a lot floatier.

There are also several variants in terms of performance. The entry-level model has rear-wheel drive and is simply called the Taycan. Then there's the 4S, which has more power and – as the name suggests – adds four-wheel drive. The performance gets really spicy with Turbo models: Turbo, Turbo S and Turbo GT. The GT is lighter than the S and delivers a scarcely believable 1020bhp.

The fact is, though, that even the entry-level, single-motor, rear-wheel-drive model has up to 402bhp, and if you put your foot down in that with launch control engaged, it’s capable of 0-62mph in 4.8 seconds. Meanwhile, the 4S version that we recommend upgrades power to a consistent 500bhp – or 590bhp in quick bursts – taking you from 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds. That's nearly half a second quicker than the Audi E-tron GT quattro.

There is one thing missing, of course: no whacking great V8 or sizzling flat-six petrol engine soundtrack to stir the soul. There is, however, the option of a fake engine noise generator (it's standard from Turbo S up) called Porsche Electric Sport Sound.

To some, it will add a sense of drama as you gun the accelerator. Others will think it sound a bit naff. The good news is you can switch it off if you wish.

With it deactivated, you’ll notice some very slight motor whine around town and the sound of the two-speed automatic gearbox on the rear motor shifting under hard acceleration.

The main noises you’ll hear come from the suspension pattering away over broken Tarmac and the rumble of the tyres across a coarse surface. The tyre roar mainly comes about on versions with bigger wheels. It’s not such an issue on the standard 19in alloys you get with the entry-level Taycan and the 4S.

Wind noise is very well contained, mind. In every version it rarely goes beyond a light and consistent background whoosh.

What about the brakes? Well, in some rivals – the EQS for example – the brakes can be grabby because the regenerative braking system isn’t well integrated with the regular, friction brakes.

The Taycan’s brakes aren’t like that, but nor do they feel entirely natural, especially under hard braking. That’s the reason we prefer the brake feel in Tesla models. Yet for everyday driving, the Taycan’s brake pedal is well judged. The upshot is it’s perfectly possible to stop smoothly in most situations.

What about range? The great news here is that even the cheapest Taycan – with the standard 89kWh battery – can officially manage up to 367 miles on a full charge. That’s considerably further than the 305 miles of the E-tron GT.

Upgrade to the optional 105kWh Performance Battery Plus, and you can eke out 421 miles according to the official stats. That’s more than any rival except the more expensive Mercedes EQS 450+, which can do up to 441 miles.

Our pick of the Taycan line-up, the 4S, is rated at 346 miles, or 399 miles if you take our advice and option the bigger battery. As always, official range is one thing, but real-world range is likely to be a little less, so expect that 399-mile figure to be more like 350 in practice.

The Porsche Taycan beats all rival electric cars for interior quality– even the Audi E-tron GT. Every surface you touch feels suitably upmarket and it all feels beautifully screwed together. Neither of those things applies to the Mercedes EQS, despite its similarly heady price tag.

The Taycan’s driving position is also superb. You sit closer to the ground than in most electric cars, so immediately feel as though you’re in something properly sporty. There’s still plenty of adjustment for the steering wheel, mind.

The seats are wonderfully supportive on a long journey, but also have great side support to hold you firmly should you be throwing the car around on a twisty road.

You get eight-way electric adjustment as standard, but you can pay extra if you want more adjustment – 14-way or 18-way seats are available. The Turbo comes with the 14-way seats by default, while the top-end Turbo GT gets racing-style lightweight carbon-fibre buckets.

If you like tech, you’ll appreciate the four large screens across the dashboard. Three of them – the one behind the steering wheel and the two touchscreens in the middle of the dashboard – are standard, but the screen for the passenger is an optional extra.

It’s very similar in principle to the passenger screen in the Mercedes EQE and EQS, letting your passenger see info such as driving data or play the role of in-car DJ. Alternatively, they can watch videos, but thanks to the special display it’s impossible for the driver to see what they’re watching.

The instrument cluster behind the steering wheel is a sleek-looking 16.8in curved digital display. It's very customisable and capable of showing you everything from sat-nav instructions to how much G-force you’re generating in corners.

Most of the car's features are controlled using the central 8.4in touchscreen, which has haptic feedback, and the 10.9in infotainment screen above it. Sadly, there are not many physical buttons, which can be a problem: hitting the smaller icons while driving is tricky and distracting. The E-tron GT's dashboard has more physical buttons, which make it easier to use.

The Taycan's lower screen is awkward to operate without contorting your arm and it's too to press it with your palm accidentally when you're trying to steady your hand to use the upper screen.

A 15kW wireless phone-charging pad comes as standard, which is cooled to stop your phone overheating. What's more, you get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so you can mirror your phone’s software on the infotainment screen.

Visibility is okay but not great. The wide windscreen pillars hinder your view slightly, and seeing out to the rear is tricky, with not just fat rear pillars but a shallow rear screen.

Thankfully, a rear-view camera along with front and rear parking sensors are standard, as are adaptive matrix LED headlights, which can be upgraded to even better HD matrix LEDs. They illuminate the road up to 600m ahead, and with 32,000 pixels, they can shape their beams even more precisely to provide maximum vision without dazzling other road users.

Given how closely related the Porsche Taycan and Audi E-tron GT are, you won't be surprised to hear that they're pretty much identical for interior space, both front and rear. But that means the Taycan isn’t the impractical weekend toy you might imagine it to be; it's smaller than a Porsche Panamera, but not by much.

The Mercedes EQE and Tesla Model S have a touch more room in the back, but the Taycan's standard two-seat arrangement can easily accommodate a couple of six-footers.

There isn't much room left over, though, meaning the optional third rear seat is really only suitable for emergencies. Adding the third-seat option also brings 40/20/40 split-folding rear seats; without it, the rear seatbacks fold 60/40.

One issue is that it can be tricky to get in and out of the Taycan, because the door openings aren’t huge. Being so low to the ground doesn’t help, so it’s worth noting that the optional Porsche Active Ride suspension helps a bit by raising the car by 55mm every time you open the door.

The boot is plenty big enough for a baby buggy or a set of golf clubs. In terms of outright load space, we managed to fit in six carry-on suitcases with room left over for a soft bag, which is more than the boot of a Volkswagen Golf can swallow.

You get underfloor storage for the charging cables as long as you don't go for one of the upgraded sound systems (they have a subwoofer that takes up space). And unlike in the EQE, there's another luggage compartment under the bonnet.

If you need a little more boot or rear-passenger space, don’t forget the (slightly) more practical estate-like variants, the Taycan Cross Turismo and Taycan Sport Turismo.

If you're lucky enough to have the Porsche Taycan on your company car list, you'll be quids in. Electric cars attract fantastic benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax breaks right now, so it will set you back a tiny amount in monthly salary sacrifices compared with combustion-engined cars in the same price bracket.

The rear-wheel-drive Taycan is the cheapest option for private cash and finance buyers, but the 4S is significantly faster and feels like a proper performance car. It will cost more than the equivalent Audi E-tron GT but we reckon it's worth the extra. For the latest prices, see our New Car Deals.

Standard features (for the entry-level car and the 4S) include 19in alloy wheels, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, a powered tailgate and a heat pump. You have to pay extra for keyless entry, privacy glass, a heated steering wheel, full leather seats and adaptive cruise control. The Turbo and Turbo S come with extra standard kit, but they cost tens of thousands of pounds more.

As mentioned, if you stick with the 4S, we recommend adding the Performance Battery Plus option (standard on the Turbo models), which increases the maximum charging rate from 270kW to 320kW. In theory, that allows you to charge from 10-80% in around 20 minutes (significantly quicker than the EQE), but you'll need to find a very fast charging station to do so.

In the UK, you're much more likely to come across a 150kW charger, which can deliver a 10-80% charge in just over half an hour. A 0-100% charge from an 11kW home wallbox takes around 11 hours.

The list of standard safety technology includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), traffic-sign recognition and lane-keeping assistance. Blind-spot monitoring is available as an option.

In terms of crash protection, the Taycan achieved a full five-star rating from Euro NCAP. That said, whiplash protection for adults and children sitting in the front or back was found to be a little disappointing. The EQE was better in that respect.

What’s more disappointing is the reliability record. The pre-facelift Taycan finished as the least reliable electric car in our 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey. And Porsche as a brand could manage only 20th position when it was ranked against 32 other manufacturers. Mercedes came 24th while Tesla was up in 10th.

For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? newsletter here