46 APRIL 2020 ~ CAR AND DRIVER
Porsche Taycan Turbo S Plus Arresting looks, time-warping
acceleration, range is a nonissue. Minus Lacking in storage
and rear-seat space, all-the-money price. Equals Porsche
creates the Porsche of EVs, applies Porsche pricing.Shortly after the Tesla’s launch,
General Motors reportedly compiled a
lengthy dossier outlining the litany of its
internal requirements that the Model S
violated. And a few years after that, when
Tesla’s AutoPilot suite of driver-assist
features came out, the Model S became
the env y of every carmaker. Tesla’s abil-
ity to update its vehicles’ software via
wireless downloads is something other
automakers are still racing to match.
Part of Tesla’s mystique has been
continual change, and the Model S has
seen plenty. Its battery pack has grown
by 15 percent, and its range even more, to
an EPA-rated 373 miles on today’s Long
Range model. The sprint to 60 mph has
been lopped nearly in half, and rear-fac-
ing third-row seats have come and gone,
as have various models with smaller
battery packs. Meanwhile, the price of
the top-performing variant started at
$105,400, rose to as high as $136,200,
and is now back down to $101,190 and
once again includes free use of Tesla’s
expansive Supercharger network.
Thanks to the Model 3, which follows
the Model S blueprint at a lower price
point, Tesla is on the cusp of selling its
millionth vehicle despite producing only
four models thus far, none of which has
yet to see a second generation. As much
as Tesla has achieved, though, its most inconceivably
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other automaker to change course.
This brings us to the Porsche Taycan, clearly a
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combined horsepower from the front and rear electric
motors in its top model, the Taycan impressed us from
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the absurdly high $186,350 starting price for the Turbo
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of 192 miles.
But an EV can’t be judged on range alone. So, we
took a Taycan Turbo S to meet its inspiration, the latest
Model S Performance, complete with Tesla’s Raven
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t y pe of front motor) that rolled out in 2019. In this thor-
ough work-up of the pointy end of the EV market, we pit-
ted the two cars against each other in head-to-head tests of
performance, real-world highway range, and fast-charging
ability, then honed our impressions in California’s Angeles
National Forest.2nd Place: The Porsche
Getting in and out of the Taycan’s low-mounted front seats
and around the intrusively thick base of the B-pillars is
moderately bothersome. But once you’re in there, the view
forward is the perfect blend of retreating hood and bulging
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view is, well, slitty, but the exterior presence it enables is
totally worth it.
Driving it only furthers the sports-car sensation. The
Tacyan feels impossibly solid, so approachable and trusty
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very high praise for a car that weighs 5246 pounds. Part of
the magic is in its great steering, with a tight on-center