Porsche is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Hockenheimring track with a special edition of one of its models. The Porsche Taycan GTS Hockenheimring Edition is the first special edition based on the brand's first electric vehicle. It features several elements to set it apart. It all starts with the Stone Grey paint and "Bronzite" accents to bring a dash of flair. On the inside, Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur have selected black leather for the upholstery, while the contrasting elements are finished in a shade that is called "Island Green."
2023 Porsche Taycan
Variants, Reviews, Pricing, and Specs
Prices Starting at $88,150
Overview
Porsche all-electric sports sedan has the specs and techs to make even petrol-obsessed gearheads drool. Porsche invested six billion euros in investments and added 1,200 new employees for the launch of the Taycan alone. The entire company is firmly committed to electric mobility so Porsche (as a company) went through a process of major change to deliver a car built to slingshot it into the electric future. Make no mistake, the Porsche Taycan is a monumental step for the company, a battery-powered, zero-emission sport sedan that drives like a Porsche, is insanely quick and is arguably one of the best Porsche cars ever made. The low-slung four-door arrived in two versions - the base model Turbo and specced up Turbo S - with the kind of stats that impress any car fan. Think 0 to 60 in 2.6 seconds in the S, along with 750 horsepower. But the Taycan also delivers on Porsche’s reputation for engineering prowess by pushing electric driving tech forward in all sorts of ways. The Taycan uses an industry-first 800-volt battery, which allows for smaller cabling than the standard 400-volt system, making the car lighter. That also enables extra fast charging: The 93.4-kWh battery can be filled to 80 percent is just 22.5 minutes, using one of the high-speed chargers Porsche is installing at dealerships around the country.
For performance enthusiasts, that comes down to handling and responsiveness. Chassis engineer Ingo Albers points to the new all-wheel-drive system, which scraps a central system in favor of putting control within each of the dual motors. That saves milliseconds of delay as the wheels communicate with the controller and the controller sends instructions back. “It's faster, it's smoother, and the performance is better,” Albers says. “The traction control is up to 10 times faster than on a normal Porsche.” The Taycan will feel more nimble and agile than Porsche’s other sports sedan, the Panamera, Albers says. Better balanced, too, since its weight is concentrated in its middle. The powertrain called for a compromise between efficiency and ferocity, resulting in Porsche’s development of an industry-first two-speed gearbox. Manufactured in-house, it’s attached to the rear motor only and provides for both brisk low-end acceleration and a higher top-end, at 161 mph, while still being efficient when it needs to be, for highway cruising and the like. This is one technically sophisticated automobile.
Since its launch, Porsche has really rolled out the variants. We have see the base Taycan and the introduction of the Cross Turismo (wagon) body. In typical Porsche fashion, we now have the Porsche Taycan, Porsche Taycan 4S, Porsche Taycan Turbo, Porsche Taycan Turbo S, Porsche Taycan 4 Cross Turismo, Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo, Porsche Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo and Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo. The latest addition came in 2022 model year with the GTS, the one we would pick if it were our money. No new models were announced for the 2023 model year, but Porsche has been working under the hood across the entire range, making improvements around battery software and the infotainment system.
Previous Years: 2022 Porsche Taycan Lineup
While not as volatile as the Turbo and Turbo S, the Taycan GTS still offers plenty of speed, with a suspension honed for those who would rather go fast in the turns than fast in a straight line...a split-personality car—and we love both personalities.
Motortrend
Pros
Shocking acceleration. Drives and feels like a Porsche should. Fast charging a game changer. Plenty of variant choice.
Cons
Expensive compared to equally good competitors. Not quite as good as the Teslas. Some teething issues.
Verdict
Porsche builds the best performance EV on the market on its first attempt. No surprises here.
What's New for 2023
Porsche didn't give us any new Taycans for 2023, but it is still working hard. The biggest update for Taycan owners current and prospective is a big update to the battery and charging software that helps increase range and charging speeds across all Taycan models. Porsche says the Taycan will now precondition its battery to a higher temperature and, as a result, the car will reach its max 270 kWh charge at a higher state of charge. On the inside, Porsche did some work to the infotainment display, giving a more colorful and quicker reacting user interface as well as finally offering wireless Android Auto. The Taycan GTS had an option called Porsche's Variable Light Control which becomes available with any Taycan equipped with a panoramic glass roof for 2023. This allows the driver to toggle the roof from clear to opaque electronically, the better to control scalp overheating. The painted 19-inch Aero wheels have been discontinued. Too bad, we really liked them.
Our Pick of the Range
This is one of those times where we don't pick a winner amongst the 2023 Taycan range because it really is a matter of picking the Taycan that suits your use case. They are all amazing and easily in the top-tier electric performance space. The Taycan Turbo has out of this world straight line performance and we would choose it over the Turbo S since the difference in performance just isn't that noticeable. As a daily commuter or family car, it is hard to go past the Taycan 4S with its all-wheel drive sure-footedness and 522-hp powertrain. It rides on 19-inch wheels and has adaptive air suspension which we loved. You will notice the Performance package, which we would recommend since you get rear-axle steering and torque vectoring. The Taycan GTS is probably the sweet-spot, with huge performance, superb driving dynamics and all the luxury you could need. The GTS also boasts the best range of the Taycan lineup so you can have your cake and eat it too. I'll take two please.
2023 Pricing Guide
Taycan (Base) - $88,150
Taycan 4S - $107,950
Taycan GTS - $135,550
Taycan Turbo - $154,750
Taycan Turbo S - $188,850
Ranking vs Competition
Lucid Motors Air - $89,050
Tesla Model S - $106,440
Porsche Taycan - $88,150
Audi RS e-tron GT - $106,395
Mercedes-AMG EQS - $130,000
...electric car ambitions started with the Mission E concept in 2015. Porsche rapidly developed production versions and they are utterly spectacular.
Stuttcars
Current Porsche Taycan Lineup
The Taycan is currently offered as a sedan model and Cross Turismo (wagon-like) model. Other planned variants include a two-door coupe and convertible models (coming soon). Models introduced at launch include the high-performance AWD Turbo and Turbo S. The Taycan 4S, a mid-range AWD model with two battery sizes, was added in October 2019. The base RWD model was first announced in July 2020 for China, and then for Europe and US in January 2021. The Cross Turismo models all came out as 2021 model years. In recent years we saw the addition of the GTS model Taycans, which are arguably better than the original Turbo Taycan in terms of the balance between sheer straight line performance and true Porsche handling experience.
Stuttgart’s first EV is a proper Porsche – massively fast, great to drive, quick to charge and practical enough to use every day
Top Gear
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