Porsche is giving the Taycan electric sports car numerous innovations at the model year change in October 2020. The new model year can be ordered from mid-September.
The new Plug & Charge function in the Porsche Taycaan allows convenient charging and payment without a card or app: as soon as the charging cable is plugged in, the Taycan communicates in encrypted form with the Plug & Charge-compatible charging station. The charging process then starts automatically. The same applies to payment. Plug & Charge already works on Ionity charging stations in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Italy and the Czech Republic. Twelve more countries in Europe will follow in early 2021. In the USA and Canada, Plug & Charge will also be available at many charging points in Electrify America and Electrify Canada from early 2021.
Optional equipment
New are also different online bookable vehicle functions. The options offered here are Power Steering Plus, Active Tracking and Porsche Inno-Drive. The respective function can be purchased permanently or booked as a monthly subscription, the latter containing three test months. Active Lane Guidance keeps the vehicle centered in the lane by continuous steering interventions – even in traffic jams. Inno-Drive adapts the speed automatically and typical for sports cars to the upcoming conditions, such as speed limits, curves, traffic circles, right-of-way and stop signs.
Both functions cost 19.50 Euro each per month or 808.10 Euro each as a purchase option. The Plus power steering system works speed-dependent. At high speeds it reacts directly, at low speeds with a stronger steering assistance. This function-on-demand costs 320.71 Euro once. It is not available as a monthly option. The Porsche Intelligent Range Manager (PIRM) acts in the background when route guidance is activated and optimizes all system parameters for the shortest possible travel time. For this, a monthly fee of 10.72 Euro or a one-time fee of 398.69 Euro is due.
Porsche offers various new vehicle functions on demand.
Other new features that are subject to surcharge are: a colored head-up display, an on-board charger with a charging capacity of up to 22 kW and a programmable lift function for adaptive air suspension that automatically raises the vehicle at recurring points such as road thresholds or garage entrances.
Better sprint times
Porsche also wants to improve the sprinting ability of the Taycan Turbo S. Recalibrated, the sprint from zero to 200 km/h with Launch Control should now take 9.6 seconds, 0.2 seconds faster than before. The quarter mile is completed after 10.7 seconds (previously 10.8 seconds).
More loading comfort
There are also new features in the Taycan with regard to the loading function.
Another new function is the battery saving charging. It allows the charging power to be limited to approximately 200 kW at suitable charging stations. This extends the charging time, but also the life of the battery and reduces power loss. Other new intelligent charging functions are available in conjunction with the Mobile Charger Connect and the Home Energy Manager. These include the current monitor function, which can now also prevent the house connection from being overloaded for individual phases, and charging optimized for the home’s own current. With this function, the Taycan can be specifically charged with the house’s own solar power. Once the freely selectable minimum battery charge is reached, only solar power not used by the house is used.
More colors and optics package
In addition, seven new exterior colors are available for the Taycan for the new model year: Mahogany Metallic, Frozenberry Metallic, Cherry Metallic, Coffee Beige Metallic, Chalk, Neptune Blue and Ice Grey Metallic. The Sport Design Package Carbon is available for all Taycan versions. This includes carbon inlays in the lower part of the bow and in the sill covers as well as carbon side fins for the rear diffuser.
There are also improvements to the infotainment package. Digital radio is now standard and Apple podcasts can now be selected as their own media source.
Conclusion
It will probably take some getting used to the fact that model maintenance measures for electric cars are mainly done via software. One must not lose sight of the running costs in the face of all the subscription offers.