For those who might have lost track of the Porsche Taycan range - don't forget the Cross Turismo isn't far off - time for a brief refresh. Handily, and surprisingly for a Porsche, it's quite simple: there's a Taycan 4S, with 530hp (or 570hp with a battery upgrade), a Turbo with 680hp or a Turbo S with 770hp. And the sort of acceleration to make your insides cry. Now there's a fourth member of the range, just plain old 'Taycan', the entry level to the line-up with anything up to 476hp (!). Electric Porsches might take some getting used to, after all...
Just as notably, this new base model is the first rear-drive Taycan, one "poised to create even more diverse driving pleasure for the series" no less. Developed alongside the 4S, this Taycan carries over all that we've seen from the Porsche EV thus far but with just the one Permanent Synchronous Motor on the rear axle as well as its own tune of the chassis systems to compensate.
As standard, the Taycan produces 408hp with a 79.2kWh battery, upgradeable to 476hp with the 93.4kWh Performance Battery Plus. As the latter figure is the standard's overboost peak, both battery options reach 62mph in 5.4 seconds with launch control. Top speed is equally rated, too, at 143mph. The difference comes in range, with the smaller battery covering an NEDC-rated 257 miles and the larger one 304.
For now, the rear-drive Taycan has only been launched in China, though it would be a surprise if it didn't arrive in other markets at some point as well. Over there it costs 888,000 Chinese Yuan, equivalent to £102,000 at today's exchange rate. It's been described as "a perfect entry point into the fully electrified Porsche world", which is an odd (if accurate) statement now for something so large, fast and expensive - but it'll probably sound even stranger when the entry point is a 911 or Boxster with batteries. Let's not get ahead of ourselves for now, however - expect a UK update on the rear-drive Taycan soon.
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