It feels like just last month when we were introduced to Porsche’s first foray into the world of electric cars, the brutally fast 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S. That’s because it actually was last month, and it seems Porsche isn’t wasting any time in filling the rest of the lineup. Meet the Taycan 4S, which is now the entry-level Porsche sedan that runs on electrons instead of gas.
We’ll get the important stuff out of the way first: Pricing starts at $103,800 for the Taycan 4S with the base Performance Battery and $110,380 for the Taycan 4S with the more powerful Performance Battery Plus. Not cheap—it’s still a Porsche, of course—but a steep cut from $150,900 for the Turbo and $185,000 fo the Turbo S.
What does going “entry-level” get you here? The Performance Battery is a 79.2 kWh unit, while the Performance Battery Plus comes from the Turbo models and has a capacity of 93.4 kWh. The former nets you 522 horsepower, while the latter is rated at 563 HP.
Curiously, despite their power difference, both cars can do zero to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds, Porsche claims.
As you might guess from the name, it’s all-wheel drive thanks to two “permanently excited” synchronous motors on the front and rear axles and Porsche’s clever two-speed transmission. It retains the rest of the impressive engineering from the upper-trim Taycan, which you can read about here if you haven’t.
Range, however, remains a question, at least for the North American markets. In Europe it’s 407 km with the Performance battery and up to 463 km with the Performance Battery Plus, both of which are about on par with the two Turbo models for now. It’ll also charge from 5 percent to 80 percent in an impressive 22.5 minutes when plugged into an 800-volt high-speed DC charging station, Porsche says.
I’m sure this will come with inevitable comparisons to the Tesla Model S, whose “entry-level” Long Range AWD model starts at a cheaper $72,115 and has a roughly similar 0-60 mph time. But for now, I’m merely glad to see more fast EVs on the road. If you don’t need the craziness of the Turbo S, this packs a lot of value.
The 4S will be in U.S. dealerships this spring and is available to order right now.
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