Porsche Taycan 4S revealed
New ‘entry-level’ pure-electric sacrifices little in the way of performance despite costing $100k less than Taycan TurboLess than a month after the new Porsche Taycan Turbo was first revealed, details of a cheaper, fractionally more affordable Porsche Taycan 4S have surfaced.
On sale in the fourth quarter of 2020, the new Taycan 4S is rumoured to cost about $200,000 – roughly $100,000 less than the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Turbo S that land at the same time.
For that you get a car available with 390kW of power plus a 79.2kWh lithium-ion battery.
If that's not enough, Porsche will happily upgrade the Taycan 4S' battery pack to the larger 'Performance battery Plus' that has a higher 93.4kWh energy density.
Prices for the bigger battery haven't been released but the upgrade corresponds with a healthy bump in power to 420kW.
Whichever version you buy, acceleration remains devastating with the Taycan 4S barely any slower than the Turbo with 0-100km/h taking a blistering 4.0 seconds – only 0.8sec slower.
Top speed for the 4S, meanwhile, is 250km/h – that's just 10km/h down on the Turbo.
Better still, the strong acceleration is combined with a decent WLTP-verified 407km range for the standard car and a 463km with the Performance battery Plus - the latter 13km more than the Turbo.
Featuring twin electric motors (one on either axle) and a two-speed transmission on the rear axle, the Taycan 4S doesn't skimp on any hardware compared to its more expensive siblings.
The same goes for the standard level of kit Australian cars will get. All Taycan 4S models come with 20-inch aero alloy rims, red-painted callipers, and a sports body kit that includes side sills and a prominent rear diffuser.
Full adaptive LED headlamps are also standard while, inside, there's a large central 10.9-inch infotainment system that's offered with an optional passenger display.
Where the cheaper 4S does miss out is with its seats that only come in half-leather, although fourteen-way electric adjustment is standard.
Reining in all that acceleration, Porsche has wisely fitted the Taycan 4S with a large six-piston front callipers that bite down on large 360mm discs. At the rear there's four-piston callipers and 358mm rotors.
The cheapest Porsche Taycan should also have a cossetting ride, with a three-chamber air suspension combined with adaptive dampers standard.
When it arrives in Q4, it’s understood the Taycan 4S will start at $200,000, making the four-door battery-powered sedan Tesla's closest competition yet for the Model S.
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