New model will launch in March; $30k cheaper than current entry variant

ACCEPTING a Porsche Taycan in a rear-drive format has potential to bring a $30,000 saving on the previous entry edition.

The drivetrain layout, which debuted last June but was then restricted to cars sold in China, has been touted internationally as a pathway to presenting the car in a more cost-effective format.

That strategy expresses coherently here, where the drivetrain represents in a new entry configuration, simply called Taycan.

In kicking in at $173,900, this model presents a $30,000 saving over the least costly edition at the moment, the 4S that released last June.

Other versions of Taycan sold in NZ are the Turbo and Turbo S for $289,900 and $366,900. These remain purely with all-wheel-drive.

The new derivative is set to arrive in March, a timeframe that suggest NZ could stand as just the second right-hand-drive market after the United Kingdom.

Delivery to Australia has yet to be confirmed, but media there are suggesting it might not occur until year-end, with Porsche there concentrating on settling in the all-wheel-drive variants that have just gone on sale there.

The rear-drive configuration is as per the China market models. The car features a single electric motor on the rear axle, and offering a choice of two lithium-ion batteries: the 79.2kWh 'base' Performance Battery, and the 93.4kWh Performance Battery Plus.

Power is rated at 240kW with the smaller battery, with an onboard overboost mode activated through Launch Control upping the output to 300kW – on par with the quoted Chinese figure.

With the larger 93.4kWh pack, outputs increase to 280kW without overboost and to 350kW with it.

Porsche claims range figures on Europe's WLTP test cycle of 431km and 484km for the 79.2kWh and 93.4kWh packs respectively – the latter figure the highest range offered by any Taycan model to date.

The 800-volt electrical architecture offered by higher grade models carries over to the new entry model, with maximum DC fast-charging rates pegged at 225kW and 270kW for the small and large batteries respectively.

Regardless of battery choice, the rear-drive knocks off 0-100kmh in in 5.4 seconds, towards a top speed of 230kmh. The two-speed rear-axle transmission fitted to all-paw Taycans is standard on the new model.

Core elements of the Taycan cockpit design remain unaltered in the not-so-pauper entry car, including a large curved digital instrument cluster and a central 10.9-inch infotainment touchscreen. Eight-way power-adjustable front 'comfort' seats trimmed in part-leather are standard.

The rear-wheel-drive variant, in pre-production guise, was the model selected to break the record for the world's longest continuous electric vehicle drift, with 210 laps around a 200-metre skidpad – so, 42.1km clocked - recorded in late November, 2020. It was only stopped by an exhausted battery.