Porsche Taycan: First Look At Porsche’s First All-Electric Car | Carfection

Опубликовано 11 сентября 2019, 15:00

We’ll be getting to drive it soon but at the 2019 Frankfurt Auto Show Henry Catchpole got to see the new Porsche Taycan in person.

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It's finally here. Four years after the Mission E concept debuted, and a week after its initial debut, the Porsche Taycan has arrived at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. It's already proven its chops by picking up a record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Likely even more important to buyers is that there'll finally be a real alternative to the Tesla Model S, which has long ruled the large luxury electric sedan roost. Whether or not Porsche will be able to loosen Tesla's stranglehold on the segment remains to be seen, but attractive looks, gonzo performance and a tech-laden cabin appear to put the Taycan in the position to do just that when it goes on sale later this year.

Visually, Porsche designers were able to carry over a healthy helping of design traits from the Mission E concept to the production Taycan. The exterior's hunkered-down stance, low-sloping front end, pronounced fenders, flush door handles and continuous rear light strip all make the cut. Four-point LED daytime running lights are also part of the package. At launch, the Taycan will be offered in a Turbo trim riding on 20-inch wheels, and Turbo S specification that gets standard carbon fiber trim and sits on 21-inch wheels. (Yes, we realize it's odd to use "Turbo" and "Turbo S" on a car that doesn't use turbochargers -- or, you know, an internal combustion engine.)

With a drag coefficient of 0.22, the Taycan Turbo possesses the lowest drag of any vehicle in Porsche's current production lineup. Full underbody paneling also contributes to its slippery aerodynamics. The Taycan Turbo S is slightly less efficient at cutting through the air, with a 0.25 drag coefficient.

At its core, the Taycan's body is built from a mixture of steel and aluminum joined together with a variety of different welding processes, screws, rivets and adhesives. Upping passenger safety is hot-formed steel for the body's pillars, side roof frame and seat cross member, and boron steel for the bulkhead cross member. All of this improves passenger safety.

For performance purposes, the shock absorber mounts, axle mounts and rear side members are constructed of die-cast or forged aluminum, while all body panels minus the front and rear bumpers are also made from aluminum to shave weight. In total, 37% of the Taycan is made of aluminum.