The Porsche Taycan is without question one of the most highly anticipated cars of 2019. Set to be officially revealed later this year, the Taycan represents Porsche’s first big push into the realm of electric cars and, from what we can tell so far, it might actually give Tesla a run for its money.
Spec wise, the Porsche Taycan isn’t messing around. Impressively, the Taycan boasts a 0-62 MPH time of 3.5 seconds and can hit a top speed in excess of 155 MPH. Equally as impressive, the Taycan will be able to travel upwards of 310 miles on a single charge. What’s more, Porsche has been working on a high-voltage supercharger network that will reportedly allow Taycan owners to charge up to 250 miles in just 20 minutes flat.
All that said, the Porsche Taycan — similar to what we saw with the Model S — will be a luxury car that just happens to be electric. In other words, the Taycan will offer up the same high standards of performance and design that Porsche enthusiasts have come to expect over the past few decades.
Interestingly enough, the Taycan already appears to be catching the eye of current Tesla owners. This is particularly interesting given that Porsche Cars North America CEO Klaus Zellmer last year conceded that the allure of the Model S likely cost Porsche some sales.
“We have lots of respect for Tesla – and, yes, I’m sure there are some Porsche customers, that in terms of connectivity, digital stuff in the car and electric battery in the vehicles, didn’t find the car that they wanted with Porsche so they bought somewhere else,” Zellmer said last November.
Flash forward a year or so and the Taycan — which will reportedly sport a sticker price of $85,000 — already appears to be a success. Earlier this month, for example, Zellmer told CNET that if all the current Taycan reservation holders actually follow through with a purchase, the Taycan will be completely sold out for the year.
Even more interesting, though, is that a good number of Taycan pre-orders are coming from Tesla owners.
“More than half of the people that are signing up for the Taycan have not owned or do not own a Porsche,” Zellmer said. “Typically, if we look at our source of business, people coming from other brands, it’s Audi, BMW, or Mercedes. The no. 1 brand now is Tesla. That’s pretty interesting, to see that people that were curious about the Tesla for very good reasons obviously don’t stop being curious.”
Does Tesla have reason to be worried? Not necessarily. Until the Taycan actually hits the road, Tesla will continue improving upon and selling the Model S in significant numbers. Further, Tesla’s fortune at this point have less to do with competition from Porsche and a lot more to do with its ability to ramp up Model 3 production. Either way, the electric car landscape is poised to become a lot more interesting this year.
