The 2024 Porsche Taycan presents the most compelling case yet for why luxury electric vehicles (EVs) are market ready. Now with up to 35 per cent longer range, faster charging times, massively improved performance and better ride quality, the new Taycan has once again reset the class benchmark.
The updated Porsche Taycan may appear like a minor facelift from the outside, but the improvements are so substantial that it could be regarded as an all-new model – which it would be if Porsche didn’t want to annoy its existing customers.
When the original (J1 I) Taycan came out in 2019, it was a statement of intent that Porsche was looking to move towards electrification. As it stands, the German sports car maker believes 80 per cent of its sales will be electrified by 2030, and the 911 will be the only model offered without electrification by 2035.
Despite the doom and gloom you may have heard regarding the slowdown in EV uptake, the reality is more EVs are sold now than ever before and while some brands have found it more challenging than initially expected, this is largely due to the price of the vehicles being higher than their customers are used to.
Porsche does not have that problem, and having sold over 140,000 first-generation Taycans, it will have no issue selling more of the significantly improved model.
Following the new (J1 II) Taycan, Porsche is backing it up with an all-new and fully electric Macan later this year, which will set the path for the electric 718 Cayman/Boxster and electrified Cayenne in due course.
For those who don’t know their Taycans, spotting the new model from the old will be challenging. Porsche says the similarity between the two is to avoid unnecessarily depreciating the original Taycan – which to be fair, has on average depreciated more than any other Porsche model in the lineup.
Nonetheless, if you look closely, there are a fair number of subtle design changes. Firstly and perhaps most obviously, the new headlights and tail lights.
Head-on, the new front wings and the flatter headlights are meant to accentuate the width. The new headlights are also available with high-resolution HD matrix technology, although this is optional on most variants.
The now-illuminated Porsche logo in the rear light strip features a three-dimensional, glass-look design that plays a preset light show on entry and exit. Perhaps the most useful exterior improvement is the addition of charging ports on both sides of the vehicle.
The interior remains largely unchanged however a great deal of the graphics have been updated to give better indication of what the vehicle is doing and how well it is charging.
The mode switch on the steering wheel has been made standard and if you tick the Sport Chrono option, there is a new push-to-pass button which gives additional performance for a short period of time.
How much does the Porsche Taycan cost?
The new Porsche Taycan has seen a price rise over the outgoing model, but the increase in standard equipment offsets the extra costs.
2024 Porsche Taycan pricing
2024 Porsche Taycan: $175,100 (+$10,700)2024 Porsche Taycan 4 Cross Turismo: $198,000 (+$12,800)2024 Porsche Taycan 4S: $216,300 (+$11,000)2024 Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo: $224,000 (+$7800)2024 Porsche Taycan Turbo: $307,500 (+$14,900)2024 Porsche Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo: $310,400 (+$15,100)2024 Porsche Taycan Turbo S: $374,200 (+$10,400)
Prices exclude on-road costs
To see how the Taycan compares with its rivals, use our comparison tool.
What’s under the bonnet?
The Taycan range offers a variety of performance and battery options to suit most buyers. Acceleration times and power outputs have increased across the range. The base Taycan is now 0.6 seconds faster to 100km/h thanks to an additional 60kW of power, while the Turbo S is 0.4 seconds faster thanks to an additional 140kW of power.
2024 Porsche Taycan performance figures:
2024 Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo performance figures:
The 34 per cent improvement to claimed range is due to a variety of reasons, which Porsche breaks down as such:
Higher capacity battery: 14 per centIncreased efficiency drivetrain: 5.0 per centOptimised drive and recuperation strategy: 4.0 per centMass, aerodynamic and rolling resistance optimisation: 11 per cent
As an example, replacing the previous-generation 21-inch Mission E wheels with the same-sized Aero design wheels with distance tyres has added 40km of range alone.
The new Taycan is also now able to recapture power at a higher rate. The rate of deceleration at which it could capture energy has increased from 3.8m/s² to 4.5m/s², and power capacity for that capture has increased from 290kW to 400kW.
Perhaps a little less relevant to Australian buyers who would charge at home, but the increase recharging rate of 320kW also means the Taycan can go from 10 to 80 per cent charge in just 18 minutes (previously 21.5 mins). A quick 10-minute charge on a fast charger will give you 315km of range.
The new Taycan is now able to cool the battery at 1.3°c/min (previously 0.8°c/min) with more cooling power (12kW vs 9kW) and it’s a similar story for heating the battery, with rate of heating doubled to 0.8°c/min with 17kW of power (vs 7kW).
Worth noting that AC charging has actually been downgraded to 11kW from 22kW on the previous generation, this is unlikely to affect any buyers as home chargers are seldom able to supply more than 11kW.
Battery improvements details:
How does the Porsche Taycan drive?
Every single variant of the Taycan coming to Australia has been vastly improved to be faster and deliver better all-around performance. Porsche has made adaptive air suspension (with valve damper technology) standard across the entire range.
The chunk of the performance upgrade comes from the new rear-axle motor which adds an additional 80kW of power across the entire range, while an enhanced pulse inverter, larger batteries, improved heat management thanks to a new heat pump have increased both performance and efficiency elsewhere.
During the international launch, we drove the Taycan 4S and the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo – we also drove the ballistic Turbo GT which can do 0-100km/h in an insane 2.2 seconds, our review for that comes out next week.
Having spent a fair bit of time in the original Taycan, the argument for the car has always been pretty simple. No one really needs a Taycan that is faster than the base model – which is now substantially faster still, but Porsche has never been about answering the needs, but rather the wants of its customers.
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