The Porsche Taycan electric sedan is INR 20 lakh cheaper in Germany, thanks to the launch of the rear-wheel drive variant that debuted in China last year. The Porsche Taycan rear-wheel drive will reach German dealerships starting in the middle of March.
The base price of the Porsche Taycan (in the 4S variant) in Germany was EUR 1,06,487 (INR 95 lakh). Now that there’s a Porsche Taycan rear-wheel drive, the entry price falls to EUR 83,520 (INR 74 lakh), a reduction of EUR 22,967 (INR 20 lakh), which makes it cheaper than buying a BMW M5 (EUR 91,500/INR 81 lakh).
Porsche Taycan RWD specs
| Aspect\Specification | Taycan RWD Performance Battery | Taycan RWD Performance Battery Plus |
| Motor Power (Nominal) | 240 kW (326 PS) | 280 kW (380 PS) |
| Motor Power (Overboost with Launch Control) | 300 kW (408 PS) | 350 kW (476 PS) |
| Motor Torque | 345 Nm | 357 Nm |
| Battery Pack Capacity (Net/Gross) | 71.0 kWh/79.2 kWh | 83.7 kWh/93.4 kWh |
| Maximum AC Charging Power | 11 kW (standard)/22 kW (optional) | 11 kW (standard)/22 kW (optional) |
| Acceleration (0-100 km/h) | 5.4 seconds | 5.4 seconds |
| Top Speed | 230 km/h | 230 km/h |
| Charging Time at 11 kW AC (0-100%) | 8.0 hours | 9.0 hours |
| Maximum DC Charging Power | 225 kW | 270 kW |
| Charging Time at 50 kW DC (5-80%) | 93 minutes | 93 minutes |
| Charging Time at 225 kW/270 kW DC (5-80%) | 22 minutes 30 seconds | 22 minutes 30 seconds |
| Range (WLTP) | 431 km | 484 km |
The 4S, Turbo, and Turbo S variants of the Porsche Taycan feature twin electric motors. The original plan was that India will get the Turbo S variant, as per the teaser from the first-ever Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Media Night held last year (below).
The 4S comes standard with a 79.2-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery, and the larger 93.4-kWh battery pack of the Turbo and Turbo S is an option called the Performance Battery Plus. The base battery with the twin electric motors produces 522 hp, while the higher variant comes with 563 hp. The top speed is limited to 155 mph (250 kmph) while 0-100 kmph is dispatched well under 4 seconds. This variant would be ideal for the Indian market.
The Turbo and Turbo S produce a more generous 616 hp. The former takes 3.2 seconds to complete the 0-100 kmph dash and 450 km range per charge (WLTP) while the latter manages it in just 2.8 seconds with a 412 km range (WLTP). Both variants have a top speed of 259 km/h.
We expect the Taycan to sell a few dozen units at best in India as the asking price, we estimate, would be around the INR 2 crore mark. At almost twice the price of a Tesla Model S, the Taycan is positioned to compete with gas-powered sportscars like the Mercedes AMG GT in the global marketplace.
Porsche sold 272,162 cars in 2020, and 20,015 of them were of the Taycan. Norway is one of the key markets for the Taycan, where Porsche sold the 1,000th unit in November.
In August 2021, the Porsche Taycan received several updates and new features for MY2021:
Faster AC charging
One of the most significant updates in the 2021 Porsche Taycan is the Plug & Charge function. Users need to just connect the charging plug to the car, and the charging starts automatically. The same goes for payment. Do note that not all charging stations may support Plug & Charge function.
Plug & Charge already works at Ionity charging stations in Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the Czech Republic. Twelve more countries were going to join this list early this year. In the USA and Canada, charging points at Electrify America and Electrify Canada respectively were scheduled to start getting the support for this feature early this year.
Porsche also introduced a 22 kW on-board AC charger for the Taycan, to speed up the charging by two times compared to the standard 11 kW on-board AC charger. The company planned to start offering it as an option from the end of last year.
The MY2021 revisions include a battery preservation function as well, which the driver can enable using the central display. It limits the charging capacity to around 200 kW at suitable charging stations, like the fast-charging stations from Ionity, for instance, if the driver has planned a considerably long break. This feature extends the service life of the battery pack and brings down the overall power loss at the time of charging. As standard, the driver can charge with a charging capacity of 270 kW using an 800-volt charger.
‘Smartlift’ chassis
The Porsche Taycan is now not only more eco-friendly (because of the battery preservation function) but faster. That’s because the Turbo S variant accelerates from 0-200 km/h in 9.6 seconds with Launch Control now. Previously the same feat took 9.8 seconds, and thus there’s an improvement of 0.2 seconds.
The Porsche Taycan received a new ‘Smartlift’ chassis function as part of the MY2021 update. This allows customers to program the car’s adaptive air suspension such that it automatically raises in specific, regularly driven locations, like say garage driveways or speed breakers. When driving the vehicle on a highway, Smartlift can actively alter the ride height as required for ensuring the best balance between efficiency and driving comfort.
New colours, HUD & more
Also new in the 2021 Porsche Taycan is a colour head-up display, and that is an optional feature. Customers need not check all the options at the time of purchase. It is possible to add some non-hardware features via OTA updates, thanks to Function on Demand (FoD). Customers need not visit a dealership to install the software package required to enable the optional feature(s) purchased after the delivery. While Porsche Intelligent Range Manager (PIRM) was already available as one of these flexible upgrades, Active Lane Keep Assist and Porsche InnoDrive has entered the list now.
There are seven new exterior colour options for the 2021 Porsche Taycan: Cherry Metallic, Neptune Blue, Frozenberry Metallic, Coffee Beige Metallic, Mahogany Metallic and Ice Grey Metallic. Also, there are five new interior trim options: Blackberry leather, Blackberry/Slate Grey leather, Black/Limestone Beige (standard), Graphite Blue/Slate Grey Race-Tex and Basalt Black/Meranti Brown OLEA Club leather.
