The Porsche Taycan Turbo S Is Electrifying To Drive

What comes to mind when you think of driving a Porsche?

For me, it’s like a superhero wearing a business suit. It looks professional, well put together and you notice the details. But, when it wants to fly, it really can.

That’s the feeling when I got when I first saw the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S.

I have driven Porsche vehicles before, sports cars, SUVs, and everything in between, but, as soon as I got into the driver’s seat, I knew that this would be a very different experience.

You are greeted immediately by a sleek and modern screen when you step into the car and snug up inside the interior, which continues throughout behind the steering wheel, so you see it on both sides of your hands. When it starts, you hear it boot up, not anything like a GTS or a 911 Turbo, it’s subtle, you don’t really expect the full experience yet.

So, at this point, you are feeling like something is coming. Things are a little too still. This is the feeling of calm before the electric storm.

You reverse out of your parking spot and head to the road. You don’t really know what you are in for, even at this moment. You just feel the car glide softly at low speeds. As soon as you accelerate, things very much change.

You are immediately pulled back, whatever seating position you had before, it’s corrected for you and pushes you back into your seat. The steering wheel almost turns into a rollercoaster’s bar across the seat that you hold onto. The raw and charged acceleration is a ride all on its own. Your very own theme park ride every time you step on the gas.

It’s an acceleration that I have never experienced before in any car. It’s a feeling that you feel in your stomach, your heart starts beating faster and a smile, if it wasn’t already there, starts to emerge.

It was exhilarating, it was sensational, and it made it a thrill that you were in control of.

It seems like every car I have driven after it, I wish it had this acceleration.

The speed was incredible, well-behaved, and constant. There was a full delivery of power waiting at your doorstep at every moment.

Now, that is what it was like to drive. But, let’s step back for a moment.

The Exterior Design

The Porsche Taycan Turbo S takes after its brothers and sisters in the Porsche line-up. Similar design cues, which is something I like. I like how Porsche blends it into their line-up, instead of flashing EV in big letters on the side with blatant neon colours that make it hard to miss. It’s simply a Porsche that happens to be electric, not the other way around.

I find the styling is a cross between your classic two-door Porsches and the Panamera in terms of design. I think it was very smart of them to make this a 4-door or it would be a tougher sell with the grander public. That being said, I would definitely not be opposed to a bullet of an electric 911, especially as technology progresses even more. The Taycan Turbo S can be a very environmentally conscious daily car, an exhilarating sports car, and a family car all at once.

I personally like the styling, it’s almost like a timepiece. People will recognize the badge and the design, but they have to look a little closer to know which model it is.

The Porsche Taycan Turbo S feels like it sits wider on the road compared to your typical Porsche, but I feel like there is a lot of command with it.

The tail end with the constant red bar brake light brings a modern flair that will have a very longstanding contemporary look, even years in the future.

The Interior Experience

The interior of the car really comes alive with the dash.

The crisp, matte finish of the dashboard tells you everything you need to know, even more than you need to. Whether it’s switching driver modes, seeing how much range is left on your charge, or switching to your favourite SIRIUS XM channels through your Burmester High-End Surround Sund System, everything is just easy to manage.

The secondary screen on the console makes it easy to let you know all the information you need about charging.

All around a really refined, well-crafted experience from the materials they use to where they put all the small elements and decisions made to make up the dash. The front and back seats had plenty of room. I am 6’2″ tall, so I found the front and back seating positions very comfortable, even for long trips with more than acceptable head and leg room.

The Performance

With the amazing performance and exhilarating acceleration, I was immediately looking at the spec sheets to see what was behind it all. The 616 brake horsepower of the all-electric 460kW motor delivers 774 lb-ft max torque when it has launch control activated and you can really feel it. The wonderfully powered stats continue as well. Top speed listed at 260 km/h with a 0 to 100km/h speed of 2.8 seconds for the Taycan Turbo S. What really impressed me, besides the sub-3-second acceleration off the line, was the ramp-up to the faster speeds. 0 to 160 km/h in 6.3 seconds and 0 to 200 km/h in 9.8 seconds, less than 10 seconds and you are absolutely flying.

It just goes to show the constant and consistent power the Taycan has.

The Charging Experience

For Those Who Can Charge At Home and Driving Around The City

This is the most interesting aspect of the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, it has some aspects to consider that make you even more aware of how you drive the car.

If you are at home and you store it in a garage and plug the car in overnight or at your office, I don’t really see any issues at all. With the 309km of range, it is easy to get around the city, perform your daily tasks and enjoy plenty left in the tank. For me, I wanted to test drive the car outside of the city, way outside of the city.

For Those Going On Weekend Roadtrips 

I went up to Gravenhurst in Muskoka for the weekend with the Taycan, 197 km away from tip to tail of the trip. Heading there, driving around up north and back, a typical weekend for a city-bound resident, would equate to just under 500 km in range. So, how did the Taycan Turbo S hold up?

Getting up there was wonderful. It was easy with not a care in the world. Just a really relaxed, smooth, and fun drive from the slow city streets to the highways, to the winding country roads. Now that you made it to your destination up in relaxing cottage country, you have to be more aware of the charging stations. Some charging stations are slow chargers and some are fast charging. The Porsche Taycan Turbo S has the ability to accept both means, depending on what the charging station is able to provide. The charging time with a fast 270kW charger to 80% is 22.5 minutes, however, with being in Gravenhurst, the closest fast charger is in Parry Sound, 85km away. So, the charging took a lot longer to get up to 80%. As you can see from the image above, it took about 3/km per minute of charging time.

It’s just something you need to be aware of. If you have ever owned a really top-of-the-line sports car, it’s a similar feeling trying to find 93 or 94 octane gas, where only select gas stations have it. In this case, you just have to wait a little bit longer to fill up.

With the charging stations being a bit more minimum in more northern areas, it’s just something you have to plan around. Most cities or townships have charging stations, and usually, they are found in convenient locations, near grocery stores, coffee shops, and parks, so at least you can stay busy while you get the car all charged up. From there and when you have enough power to get back to the city, it’s clear sailing because there are plenty of charging stations as you get closer to the metropolitan areas.

The Bottom Line

The 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S was a car that set a new bar for me when it comes to electric vehicles. It drove beautifully, was functional with all the space for a weekend road trip, the acceleration was a thrill and it was a pleasure being in the front seat. It is a car that makes you aware of a few aspects. The acceleration is so great that you need to watch to see if anyone is holding a beverage in their hands, it could honestly spill all over them if they aren’t careful. Also, the range when out in more suburban, rural, and cottage country areas, make you more aware of how much charge you need to get back home. Besides those two main aspects, it’s been my favourite electric car and one of my favourite Porsches to drive so far and I cannot wait until it gets even more range and even more exciting features. I believe this is the beginning of quite the legacy in electric vehicles for Porsche.

Pricing for the Porsche Taycan Turbo S (seen above) starts at $213,900 CAD. For more information about the 2020 Porsche Taycan, be sure to visit their website.

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