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CarPlay in your classic Porsche, just what you needed
If you're lucky enough to own a classic Porsche, the German automaker has something special to let you update it in style.
Porsche is working on a cheaper two-wheel drive Taycan EV
An entry-level Porsche Taycan will be joining the mid-range 4S, the Turbo and the Turbo S.
Porsche's virtual race series starts tomorrow with pro drivers at the wheel
It's not just multi-manufacturer racing leagues like NASCAR going digital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Porsche is livestreaming its Mobil 1 Supercup Virtual Edition starting on April 4th at 10AM Eastern, when drivers take to a digital version of the Spanish Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for two races in 911 GT3 Cup cars. The iRacing-based series will have 31 drivers, 22 of which are full-time Supercup racers -- the nine others are factory and young professional drivers fielded by big-name sponsors like TAG Heuer and Vodafone.
Porsche opens Europe's most powerful EV charging park
Porsche just unveiled what might be your dream EV charging park -- if you happen to be swinging through eastern Germany, anyway. The automaker has opened Europe's most powerful fast-charging park in Leipzig, giving visitors a dozen 350kW stations to rapidly charge your Taycan (or any compatible EV, thankfully) and another four delivering 22kW to those who just need a small top-up. There's 7MW of total power, and all of it comes from renewable energy.
Porsche's first Super Bowl ad in 23 years is for the electric Taycan
There have been Super Bowl ads for electric cars before, but they've tended to treat EVs as novelties. BMW's 2015 ad for the i3 was practically a crash course in EVs, while Audi's 2019 spot was more to advertise electrification than the still-unavailable E-Tron GT. Porsche, however, is embracing the radical concept of advertising an EV you can actually buy. The automaker is airing its first Super Bowl ad in 23 years on February 2nd to promote the Taycan, and this video focuses more on -- gasp -- the actual car.
EPA estimates Porsche Taycan Turbo S range at just 192 miles
You'd think that splashing out for the Porsche Taycan Turbo S would deliver some extra range in addition to the improved acceleration (as you get with rivals like Tesla), but that's apparently not the case. The EPA has rated the top-spec model's range at just 192 miles -- that's less than the already modest 201 miles of the regular Turbo. Given that the Turbo S currently starts at $188,960 after delivery and handling fees, you're not getting much longevity for the money.
Porsche dreams up a Star Wars ship inspired by its Taycan EV
Here's a Star Wars marketing tie-up you may not have seen coming: Porsche has teamed with Lucasfilm to create a fantasy spaceship based on the Taycan EV. While the "Tri-Wing S-91x Pegasus Starfighter" won't appear in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker next week, it will be presented as a five foot scale model at the film's LA premiere, Porsche said.
Porsche tests a four-motor powertrain for electric SUVs
Porsche's follow-ups to the Taycan may make its powerplants seem conservative by comparison. The Stuttgart crew has revealed that it's working on a four-motor powertrain for electric SUVs, twice as many as what you'll find in the Taycan. This isn't about improving quarter mile times, though. Instead, the design is focused on control -- one motor for each wheel lets Porsche rapidly shift the power distribution based on where it's needed, whether it's to counteract slippery roads or take corners at high speed. You could have the "agility of a sports car" in a large people carrier, the company claimed.
Tesla Model X and Porsche Taycan score 5-star rating in EU safety test
If safety ratings are a major criteria for you when it comes to choosing a car, your best bet is probably an EV. Tesla's Model X has just received a 5-star safety rating from the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), building on its existing credentials from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The Porsche Taycan -- one of Tesla's biggest rival models -- also achieved a five-star rating.
Porsche’s Taycan lives up to its EV hype
Driving a Porsche -- regardless of its body style -- is filled with expectations. The vehicle should go fast while whipping around corners. So it's no surprise that the automaker's electric Taycan (pronounced Tie Khan) offers those things. The revelation is that it does so, even with the heft of a 93.4kWh battery pack.
Porsche tries selling its cars online in the US
Porsche isn't just trying to fight Tesla by offering electric cars... it's hoping to replicate some of the business model, too. The automaker is piloting online car sales in the US, giving would-be owners a chance to buy from 25 of the country's 191 independently owned dealers. You'll have your pick of both new and used cars from the dealers' inventory, and can complete the brunt of the documentation and payment details online (including photos of your trade-in). You only have to visit the dealership for the last signatures and picking up your ride.
Porsche unveils the mid-range Taycan 4S EV
So far, we've seen Porsche's Taycan in the Turbo and Turbo S variants, but Porsche has already said that it's planning more models. Now, the company has unveiled the Taycan 4S, a mid-range version of the electric sports car. It will deliver up to 420 kW (around 630 horsepower), compared to 500 kW for the Taycan Turbo and 560 kW for the Turbo S.
Porsche's Macan EV will fully replace its gas counterpart in a few years
Porsche's electric Macan won't give its combustion engine counterpart much room to breathe. The automaker's deputy chairman Lutz Meschke told Autocar in an interview that the Macan EV will sit alongside the gas version when it arrives in 2021, but only for a "couple of years." After that, you'll have to buy the electric model if you want Porsche's take on a compact SUV. While he wasn't too specific about the reasons for the strategy, he noted that the transition will likely be "different by region" given the varying progress on EV infrastructure.
Boeing and Porsche are developing an electric 'flying car'
Boeing has teamed up with luxury sports carmaker Porsche to develop a concept for an electric vehicle capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) -- in other words, they're working on a "flying car." The companies' engineers will even collaborate to build and test a prototype based on the design they'll come up with, which will most likely be a premium VTOL model to stay true to Porsche's brand.
Hennessey Performance's first EV mods will go on the Porsche Taycan
We've been waiting years for tuner culture to catch up with electric vehicles, and now Hennessey Performance Engineering is promising to get in the game, starting with the Porsche Taycan. According to its founder and CEO John Hennessey, the company will start with "simple modifications such as wheels, tires and interior upgrades as well as exterior modifications such as more aggressive front and rear bumpers." Coming more than five years after Saleen showed off a hot-rod Model S P85 called the Four Sixteen -- with some tweaks that are similar to changes Tesla itself made later on -- all we can say is that it's about time. Other tweaked EVs have included the Nismo Leaf RC and this function-over-form battery status monitor.
Porsche welcomes challenge from Tesla as it adapts to the EV world
Recently, the high-end EV world has become a Nurburgring arms race with Porsche and Tesla vying for the best lap at the famed circuit. The Taycan set a record and Tesla CEO Elon Musk decided that the Model S would best it. From early reports, the Fremont company did just that with a heavily modified vehicle.
Intrigue at the Nurburgring as Tesla unofficially beats Porsche's fastest lap
When Porsche beat the Nurburgring lap record for a four-door EV, it was sending a message to rival Tesla: "Hey, 2-second 0-60mph acceleration times are cool, but how long can your brakes, motor, tires and batteries last?" Tesla boss Elon Musk got the message loud and clear, and as it goes with him, he wasn't willing to let it go. Now, it appears that a Tesla Model S has bested the Taycan Turbo's 7 minute, 42 second time by 19 seconds (unofficially).
Elon Musk says the Tesla Model S just set a new track speed record
The Model S has set a new record for the fastest four-door car at California's Laguna Seca racetrack, according to Elon Musk. The Tesla boss didn't give any more details in his brief tweet announcing the news, but did say that a video of the lap will be released tomorrow. Update (9/11, 10:17PM ET): As promised, the video is here.
The Taycan EV takes Porsche into a new world of technology
We're sideways. Again. After a blistering takeoff that pushed my internal organs towards my spine, the driver behind the wheel of the pre-production Porsche Taycan (pronounced "tie khan") turns off the traction control and the vehicle does something other EVs don't. It becomes a full-fledged sports car, its tires spinning on the edge -- and spilling over -- the traction event-horizon. We're drifting and the driver -- that also happens to be one of the regenerative braking engineers -- tells me about how the Taycan recuperates energy back into the battery. Meanwhile, I'm smiling because a proper electric sports car is coming to market from a company with a history defined by fast cars.
Porsche unveils production version of its Taycan electric sports car
After a plethora of teases and an almost daily barrage of videos and image of the vehicle, the final production version of the all-electric Porsche Taycan has been revealed. The first pure EV from the German automaker comes in two variants (Turbo and Turbo S) and starts at $150,000 (or $153,000 if you put a deposit down for the launch edition) and will start being delivered by the end of the year.
