Porsche began the process of accepting deposits on its upcoming, Tesla-fighting electric sedan, called the Porsche Taycan. Signing up to place a deposit reveals some intriguing gems. First is the trim levels. Porsche indicates that there will be three trim levels available, the Taycan, Taycan 4S, and Taycan Turbo. Furthermore, Porsche gave a rough estimate of pricing for each model, which I will breakdown in a second
For the record: I don’t have enough money in my bank account to put down such a deposit at the moment. This information comes courtesy of the fine folks over at The Drive, some of whom do have enough money to make a deposit.
Back to Turbo
Ok, back to this Turbo debacle. Porsche touts the Taycan as an EV. An Electric Vehicle. Turbos, traditionally, improve the performance of internal combustion engines. So far, no electric vehicles come with a turbocharger that does anything beneficial for power, at least not to my knowledge. So, how can Porsche label the Taycan as a Turbo model? Well, the Turbo name has long been associated with performance for Porsche. Turbo, in Porsche speak, usually means top-level performance and an equally top-level price tag.
Perhaps, Porsche sees the Taycan as an opportunity to open up the Turbo brand. In this case, Turbo would not literally mean turbocharged. Rather, it would simply indicate the highest trim level available (at the moment).
So what about pricing?
Interestingly, pricing seems to line up fairly closely to the Porsche 911, at least in terms of 2018 model year pricing. Porsche didn’t quote exact numbers, though they did give a rough estimate. According to these rough estimates, the base Taycan will start around the low $90,000 range, the 4S (AWD) model will start at around the high $90,000 range. Finally, the Turbo will jump up to a price-tag around $130,000. For reference, Porsche is looking for a deposit of $2,500 at the moment.
Other models?
Our friends over at the Taycan Forum recently released some renderings of an alleged Sport Turismo, and Targa version of the Taycan, you can read more about those models by clicking here.
More news about the Porsche Taycan EV should be coming in the near future. Stay tuned to TFLcar.com for the latest news, views & real-world reviews. Plus, a lot more on the Porsche Taycan EV.
While you wait, you can check out our latest video on the upcoming 2019 Porsche 911, completely redesigned for the new model year:
