Porsche Taycan

Is this 751bhp all-electric Taycan Turbo S a proper Porsche sports car, as its maker claims? There’s a lot to take in about our test subject this week, the £140,000, 751bhp, all-electric Porsche Taycan Turbo S – a car whose very existence as a Porsche, for many diehard enthusiasts of the firm and for a great many petrolheads besides, might not be easy to accept.But perhaps the most important of all is the fact that the people of Porscheplatz 1, Zuffenhausen, Stuttgart, consider it to be, above all else, a sports car.Not a fast saloon or svelte luxury GT, even though it has four doors and a very usable cabin. Not some bit-part novelty car or vanity project, either, or a four-wheeled strategic missile intended simply to derail the attempts of so many EV start-ups. The Taycan, they insist, is a proper Porsche sports car – albeit one of a different, more daring kind than any we’ve seen before.The company has been careful in its build-up to this product launch, reassuring traditional buyers that it isn’t suddenly going to stop making combustion-engined 911s or 718s, or to force anyone into buying electric options they haven’t asked for. And yet, on the day of the unveiling of this car last year, Porsche boss Oliver Blume was emphatic in welcoming the Taycan and “the new era” it ushers in for his company.Here we are, then: to the business of weighing, measuring, benchmarking, scrutinising, understanding and both subjectively and objectively assessing the range-topping version of the Taycan just as seriously as Autocar knows how.The Taycan line-up at a glanceAt present, the UK Taycan range comprises three different models: the 4S, the Turbo and the range-topping Turbo S tested here. All have dual motors – one at each axle – and four-wheel drive.In China, Porsche has launched a rear-engined, rear-driven variant badged simply ‘Taycan’ and developing as much as 469bhp when ordered with the 93.4kWh Performance Battery Plus. Whether or not this model will make its way to the UK has yet to be confirmed.Price £138,826 Power 751bhp Torque 774lb ft 0-60mph 2.8sec 30-70mph in fourth na Fuel economy 1.72mpkWh CO2 emissions 0g/km 70-0mph 42.6m