Highlights:
If you read our story on the upcoming Audi e-tron GT concept, the chances are that you remember the name Porsche Taycan. It’s the German carmaker’s all-electric sports car that’s scheduled to hit showrooms sometime next year. The most recent news around it is that it will come in at least three variants (if not more) and sell for a starting price of $90,000 (Rs 62,99,100 approx). One of the three variants is expected to be the Taycan Turbo, a performance variant that’s expected to start from $130,000 (Rs 90,94,150 approx).
When American writer and rally race driver Alex Roy wrote to Porsche enquiring about the upcoming Taycan, he received the following response: “We are expecting to see the new model in about one year from now. Porsche is going to build three models, the Taycan, Taycan 4s and the Taycan Turbo.” This means the Taycan will be the base variant, the Taycan 4s will be the four-wheel drive variant, and the Taycan Turbo, the performance variant.
That Porsche should choose to call the performance variant of even its electric car ‘Turbo’ is peculiar because it’s a term generally reserved for Porsche cars powered by an internal combustion engine. Turbo, in general, is short for turbocharged, an engine device one can’t find in an electric car. However, with most of the cars in Porsche’s stable being turbocharged, the name eventually evolved to refer to the very best variant available in any Porsche model. It seems Porsche is carrying that ideology forward without any change in vocabulary.
Alex Roy later tweeted the response and penned his thoughts down in an op-ed article on The Drive. In it, he confesses he first hated the idea of Porsche using the name ‘Turbo’ for an electric car but came to realise that Porsche isn’t a pure EV brand. It would make every bit of sense for Porsche to carry the ‘Turbo’ name forward for the top-of-the-line variants of its cars whether they’re electric, hybrid, or otherwise.
The Porsche Taycan (née Mission E) shares its new 800-volt charging architecture with the Audi e-tron GT. Using its two permanently excited synchronous motors and 270 Wh/kg Li-ion battery, the Taycan puts out 600 horsepower and has a claimed range of 500 kilometres. The Taycan can do a claimed 0-to-100 kmph time of 3.5 seconds. The Porsche Taycan is expected to go on sale sometime in 2019.
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Audi unveils e-tron GT concept at 2018 LA Auto Show
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