I drove the Porsche Taycan Turbo S – it’s Bugatti fast & beats Tesla in one huge way

WHENEVER you talk about electric cars, many petrolheads still chuckle. They probably haven’t sat in a Porsche Taycan Turbo S.

This makes most combustion cars look like ancient history – and makes short work of its EV siblings too.

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The Taycan is Porsche’s flagship electric vehicle, knocking around for about two years now.

And the Turbo S is arguably the most exciting variant, with a ludicrously racy zero-to-62mph time of 2.8 seconds. Tests have hit 2.4 seconds.

That’s not just supercar territory, but the stomping ground of hypercars. You’re looking at more than 760hp, a staggering 1,050Nm of torque and a healthy top speed of 162mph.

There are only a handful of cars that could beat the Taycan Turbo S in a straight run off the line, and almost all cost significantly more.

I spent a week with it to understand the technology that makes the Turbo S one of the best cars (fuel-guzzling rivals included) on the road.

For a start, you’ve got two powerful electric motors – so it’s all-wheel drive.

The front motor is single speed, but the rear axle has a two-speed transmission.

This gives the benefit of the ultra-rapid start and then high efficiency at higher speeds.

The speed is staggering, truly.

A hard start pushes you back against the seat with instant torque that internal combustion engines simply can never offer.

It’s eerily silent, although Porsche does include a mildly thrilling “electric sport” sound.

Some EVs use a single pedal – lifting off to brake for regeneration.

Porsche (thankfully) kept two pedals for the Taycan, but still offers significant battery regeneration. You’re re-juicing constantly.

Super juice

The battery technology is impressive overall.

For a start, you get a total range of somewhere between 257 and 296 miles.

That’s on the higher end of EVs right now, 

But it’s not just the respectable range that the Taycan Turbo S has going for it.

It can also charge at ultra-rapid (and I mean ultra) speeds.

When you buy a cheaper EV, it will often be unable to charge as fast as the best power outlets allow.

Often in practice, lower-end EVs won’t get more than 100kWh.

But the Taycan can charge at up to 270kWh, surging from 5% to 80% in just over 20 minutes.

Part of the brilliance of the Taycan’s charging system is getting the battery temperature right.

For optimum charging, Porsche figured out that you want about 30 degrees Celsius.

So when you plonk a charging point on the sat nav and begin navigating, Porsche will ready the battery to the perfect temperature.

Porsche can also plan charging stops on your route based on your car’s current range.

So not only is the range good, but the charging times are among the best.

If you’re got range anxiety and a boatload of cash, consider a Taycan Turbo S.

Every Taycan purchase also includes Porsche Charging Service.

This unifies loads of the different charging port accounts you need – a real bug bear for EV owners.

You also get cheaper rates at the fairly expensive Ionity ultra-fast charging stations.

Tech a peek

So is this just an EV on steroids? No Porsche is ever a one-tricky pony.

The Taycan Turbo S has a lot going for it in terms of on-board technology.

You’ve got endless driver assist features, including adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist and collision alerts.

Parking assists are great (and so they should be on the £152,000 unit I tried. Owners will be keen not to kerb it or back into a barrier.

Porsche offers tyre-pressure monitoring and brake-pad wear indicators too, to help you keep the motor in tip-top shape.

There’s a 16-inch curved instrument display, a large and touch-sensitive central console, and a generous four USB ports split between the front and back.

The 14-speaker Bose sound system (including a subwoofer) boasts 710W of power output – and it shows.

Audio is about as good as it gets in production cars. And that’s partly due to the fact that the speakers aren’t competing with the roar of a V10.

Driving modes abound, including Range Mode to boost your mileage and a Sport Mode that enables Launch Control.

That’s Porsche’s system to manage traction on an ultra-fast pull-away. Not for the faint-hearted. Use with caution. Bring spare pants.

Finally – and perhaps most importantly – the Taycan Turbo S includes Apple CarPlay.

That turns the infotainment system into a pared-down version of your iPhone, and works brilliantly.

Racing ahead!

This is probably the best outright electric car you can buy today.

The Turbo S starts at £138,000 and is hypercar fast, so you’re arguably getting good value for money.

Tesla’s racy Model S Plaid is probably the closest rival – but is similarly expensive (at £120,000), and nowhere near as attractive.

You can drive one of the fastest and prettiest cars in the world for a vaguely affordable price.

If that’s not something to feel smug about, don’t forget your helping to save the planet too.

So if you can afford one, treat yourself.

• Porsche Taycan Turbo S from £138,000 – buy here

All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed. Always do your own research before making any purchase.

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In other news, Ford’s Mustang Mach-E is the electric car of your dreams.

Check out the new Bentley Bentayga Hybrid – a silent 17-foot “dream machine”.

The new Mercedes S-Class has sci-fi sat-nav arrows – just like a video game.

Give our tech overview of the impressive Lamborghini Urus.

And take a look at the gadget-mad BMW X5.

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