2021 Porsche Taycan Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Electric cars are here to stay. As such, a number of traditional automakers have entered this market with fully electric...

Electric cars are here to stay. As such, a number of traditional automakers have entered this market with fully electric offerings—including Porsche. Its new Taycan arrived last year, competing primarily with the Tesla Model S. Initially, it was just a sedan, but for 2021, a “Cross Turismo” wagon body style joins the party. There’s also a new base trim level, joining the Taycan 4S, Turbo, and Turbo S models.

The Taycan Cross Turismo presents a slightly more upright shape than the regular Taycan. Compared to the latter, the Cross Turismo sits 0.8 inches higher by default, or 1.2 inches higher with the Off Road pack. Inside, the Cross Turismo hands you 3.6-inches of extra rear headroom and 1.4 cubic feet of extra luggage space.

In keeping with Porsche tradition, the Taycan comes in several flavors. A new base trim comes exclusively in the sedan body style and comprises a single rear-mounted electric motor, a 79.2-kilowatt-hour battery pack, a two-speed transmission, and rear-wheel drive (RWD). That gets you up to 402 horsepower, 254 lb-ft of torque, and 200 miles of range. You can swap in a 93.4-kWh “performance” battery, which ups output to 469 max hp, 263 lb-ft, with 225 miles of range. It can also hit 60 mph from a standstill in 5.1 seconds, according to Porsche.

Next is the Taycan 4, a new trim for the Cross Turismo body style that comes with dual-electric motors, a 79.2 kWh battery pack, and all-wheel drive (AWD). Output maxes out at 469 hp and 368 lb-ft of torque. The Cross Turismo 4 reaches a top speed of 137 mph and can hit 60 miles per hour in just 4.8 seconds, according to Porsche. Since it’s a mid-model-year introduction, range ratings aren’t yet available as of this writing.

Slotting above that is the Taycan 4S, which uses the Taycan 4 powertrain, tuned to produce 522 hp and 472 lb-ft. With the optional performance battery, output rises further, to 562 hp and 479 lb-ft. The Taycan Turbo sports a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds, a top speed of 155 mph, and 227 miles of range, per Porsche.

Then there’s the Taycan Turbo. It returns with the 93.4 kWh battery, a peak 670 hp, and a peak 629 lb-ft of torque. You’ll rocket to 60 in 3 seconds flat and hit 161 mph, Porsche says. However, the range decreases to 212 miles between recharges.

Topping the range is the Taycan Turbo S, which gets the 93.4 kWh battery and puts out an impressive 750 max hp and 774 max lb-ft. That’s enough to blast you to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds, according to Porsche, while still delivering 201 miles of range.

Recharging the Taycan, across all its trims and configurations, takes about the same amount of time. You'll need roughly 10.5 hours with a Level 2 household charger, though a 50 kilowatt Level 3 DC fast charger will get you to 80% in 93 minutes. With a 100 kW Level 3 charger, the Taycan can reach 80% of a full charge in 22.5 minutes. New for 2021 is Plug & Charge functionality, which automatically authenticates with the car and processes payments for public charging easily and securely.

The sheer number of options for the Taycan is too long to mention here, but standard features on the Base trim include 19-inch wheels, LED interior and exterior lighting, keyless access and start, leather upholstery, nine-way power seats, a digital instrument cluster, dual-zone automatic climate control, a drive-mode selector, launch control, a dual-touchscreen infotainment system, navigation, and Apple CarPlay.

Upgraded leather, 14- or 18-way power seats with memory, a fixed panoramic roof, dynamic headlights, Bose sound, cooled seats, a passenger LCD display, ambient lighting, additional storage, and air suspension are all available. Models with air suspension now include a Smartlift function, which can automatically raise the car’s height in certain recurring locations. Also new is Porsche’s Function on Demand, which lets you buy additional software-enabled functions long after you’ve bought the car.

Every Taycan comes with a rearview camera, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, and front and rear parking sensors. Lane-change assist, surround-view cameras, active parking, and adaptive cruise control are all available. For 2021, you can even add a head-up display. Neither the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has evaluated any version of the Taycan, but that’s not unusual for vehicles this expensive and this rare.

The Taycan is a zero-emissions EV that stays true to the Porsche design and driving ethos.