If you want an electric car that drives like a supercar and has the space of an estate car the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo is for you. As long as you can afford the eye-watering cost, that is. Launched four years ago, Porsche’s first foray into the EV market proved that not only can electric cars be extremely fast (we already knew that) and feel nimble as well.
Now Porsche has given the Taycan a mid-life refresh. Not much has changed visually. The headlights are narrower and there are a few other subtle design changes.
You can specify fancy headlights that cast a beam 600 metres ahead and can paint a ‘light carpet’ on the road to help judge the width of the car in roadworks or on narrow lanes. Most of the changes have taken place under the skin. Most notably, the battery is bigger, more efficient, and can charge faster.
The Porsche Taycan comes in three different styles. The standard Taycan is a svelte saloon, while the Taycan Sport Turismo has a hatchback opening that makes it more practical. Finally, the Taycan Cross Turismo has a slightly raised ride height and is the one to go for if you might have to head up a farm track now and then.
Prices start at £86,500 and the most expensive models top out at more than £186,000. Tick a few extra goodies on the option box and you can easily spend over £200,000. Ouch.
But many people lease their cars these days and a lot of Taycans are run as company cars for their extremely low benefit-in-kind rate. Used Taycans can be had for less than £40,000 now, so they make a good second-hand buy. Even the slowest Taycan has a sub-five-second 0-62mph time.
The new Turbo GT has an astonishing 1,034hp and a 2.2s 0-62mph time. Entry-level Taycans come with an 82.
3kW battery, with more expensive versions having a 97kW battery. The model with the longest range is the rear-wheel drive Taycan, which has an official range of 422 miles. With their higher ride height and standard four-wheel drive, the Cross Turismo models can’t quite cover as much distance on a charge.
The bigger-battery model still has an excellent 360-mile range, however. Of course, range is dependent on how you drive and what the weather’s like, but even in the depths of a Scottish winter you should be able to comfortably cover 250 or 275 miles without having to stop to charge. The refreshed model can now charge at up to 350kW, at which rate it will add 200 miles of range in just 10 minutes.
Porsche brought a Taycan 4S Cross Turismo to North Queensferry for Scottish motoring journalists to try out. With a price tag of around £100,000 (and another £30,000 of options) and a 598hp power output, it sits around the midpoint of the range. To begin with I was a little saddened Porsche hadn’t brought the ludicrous 1,000hp Turbo model for me to try.
But a little play around with the 4S Cross Turismo convinced me the car had plenty of power. There’s a launch mode you can use that releases all 598hp and gets you from 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds.
Top speed is almost 150mph. All electric cars deliver their power instantaneously and whoosh you quickly away from the line, but thrust usually tapers off above 50mph. Not so in the Porsche.
At motorway speeds, the car is still sitting on huge reserves of power. The Taycan also has tons of grip. More grip than I could come anywhere near exploring on the country roads around Knockhill.
Even on Knockhill Racetrack, I doubt if an average driver like me could come close to finding its limits. New on the updated model is something called Active Ride Control. This £6,000 optional extra keeps the car’s body level at all times, even when you’re braking or cornering hard.
I was sceptical at first but it makes the Taycan feel incredibly composed. In fact, when you’re not using it as a performance car, it’s a remarkably luxurious cruiser. Switch to comfort mode and the suspension softens up nicely.
External noise is barely discernible and it would be an easy car to cover great distances in. It’s practical too. An 84-litre boot under the bonnet has room for the charging cables and an overnight bag or two.
Meanwhile, the 446-litre main boot can easily fit a family’s luggage or a couple of large dogs. There’s enough room in the rear for two adults, although the Taycan doesn’t have the exceptionally generous passenger space you get in EVs like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Kia EV6 (and the gigantic EV9) and the . After 90 minutes in the Taycan, I handed the keys back to Porsche’s press officer with a great deal of reluctance.
It’s . Now, if only I could afford one..
. Price: £100,400 (130,406 as tested) 0-62mph: 3.6 seconds Top speed: 149mph Range: 360 miles CO2 emissions: 0g/km.
