Porsche Taycan: Why 20,000 per annum mightn’t be enough
Demand is strong already, which could put Porsche under the pump.
Porsche plans to build 20,000 Taycans each year, with deliveries to Europe and the USA commencing late 2019. Early indications are that production run may fall short of demand.
While refusing to be pinned down on actual numbers, a representative from Porsche Australia told CarAdvice they'd received hundreds of ‘expressions of interest’ before anyone has actually seen the car, let alone driven it. There's strong interest from current Porsche owners, but also from those new to the brand.
Pre-orders have also been taken in the US and, according to reports, more than 2000 reservations have been filed for the car in Norway.
When local pricing is finally announced for the Taycan late in 2019, Porsche will accept and confirm reservations for a $2500 (fully refundable) deposit from the perspective buyer.
Porsche has already released the Taycan’s performance specifications, which might explain much of the enthusiasm surrounding this car, not to mention the design of the Mission E Concept on display in Barangaroo, said to have provided many of the styling cues for the production car.
Two permanently-excitable synchronous motors drive the Taycan with an output of more than 440kW – enough to accelerate from 0-100km/h in less than 3.5 seconds, and onto 200km/h in under 12 seconds.
Additionally, the car is capable of several full-throttle launches in succession without any loss of performance, while maximum range is a claimed 500km in accordance with the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle).
Porsche claims the Taycan will use an 800-volt electrical architecture for use with a 350kW fast-charging system that will deliver an 80 per cent charge in about 15 minutes, around half that of Tesla’s Supercharger Network.
While Tesla has spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the last decade building that network, Porsche intends to partner with a third-party provider to build the fast-charging infrastructure, which it may well share with other carmakers to offset the costs, according to Ingo Appel, head of product and smart mobility at Porsche Australia.
“We want our Taycan customers to be able to drive from Melbourne to Sydney without much down time and the quickest way we can do that is to partner with a specialist in this area who can build and manage a fast-charging network for this kind of East Coast, long-haul driving," he said.
“Ideally, these charging stations would be located close to highways to minimise any inconvenience, which would likely mean petrol stations or fast food outlets, for example. Additionally, we are looking at fast-chargers at the larger Porsche dealerships and hotels.
“Regardless of the 800-volt system in the car, owners will obviously be able to charge their Taycan at home via single or three-phase plugs for overnight charging, which we still see as the norm for electric vehicles”, concluded Appel.
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