Why Tesla And Lucid Should Be Sweating Over The Facelifted Porsche Taycan (2024)

Feb. 08, 2024 6:53 AM ET by Gerhard Horn Electric Vehicles / 21 Comments

The latest car to get the Porsche facelift treatment is the all-electric Taycan, which will soon be joined by the German brand's second EV, the Macan. But the Taycan's upgrade is so important that we'd say it's a shot across the bow of Tesla and Lucid.

Before we get into this, it's important to remember that Porsche doesn't do minor upgrades. The changes made to the Cayenne and Panamera over the last few months prove that Porsche digs deep when it comes to lifecycle updates. It does so much that their facelifts might as well be classified as all-new cars. This is not a new trend. It dates back all the way to its most famous model, the 911. The rear-engined car should not have worked, yet Porsche refined the recipe to the point where the current GT3 is widely regarded as the best sports car ever made. It did the same thing with the 924. The first models were absolute dogs, but the 924S was an absolute peach after Porsche gave it an entirely new engine, upgraded suspension, and disc brakes all around.

The point is this: Porsche chips away at a car until it's perfect, and the pre-facelift Taycan was far from that. The new model is a massive leap forward, and we think the Tesla Model S Plaid and Lucid Air Sapphire should be concerned.

"We ushered in the new era of e-mobility with the Taycan at the end of 2019. It immediately proved to be a game changer and innovative pioneer in the e-vehicle segment," said head of the Taycan model line, Kevin Giek. "We are now continuing this success story with the extensively updated Taycan. The model line has reached new heights in terms of performance, with exceptional driving dynamics and driving pleasure. At the same time, we were able to significantly improve efficiency, range, day-to-day usability, and comfort."

The Taycan has an all-new rear-mounted motor, which has resulted in all models getting a power bump. The base rear-wheel drive model now produces 482 horsepower, while the Taycan 4S can produce up to 590 hp. The new Taycan Turbo has 871 hp to work with, but the big news is the 938 hp the Turbo S has at its disposal while using overboost. The standard power output, available at all times, is 764 hp. The overboost output is 188 hp more than the outgoing model, and to put that in perspective, that's eight hp more than the Honda Civic Sedan's 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine.

It can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 2.3 seconds, which means it's the quickest Porsche ever made, beating out several big hitters like the 911 GT2 RS and 918 Spyder. Still, the Model S Plaid and Lucid Air Sapphire are quicker. Lucid says its top-spec Air can reach 60 mph in 1.89 seconds, while Tesla says its fastest car can do it in 1.99 seconds. To be blunt, we couldn't care less. As we've said before, zero to 60 mph times are meaningless and only give you one metric. We're more interested in time over distance, which means drag racing and lap times.

Porsche has already proved that the new Taycan can easily beat the Model S Plaid around the Nurburgring, though that particular Taycan has yet to be unveiled (we suspect it'll be the Taycan Turbo GT). That said, Porsche has repeatedly proven that a large power output figure is not required to set a fast lap time. The Plaid and Sapphire may have over 1,000 horses, but putting the power down and managing it effectively is far more important.

In addition to the additional power and decreased acceleration figures, Porsche has included a new feature that means more than all of the above because it can actually be used in the real world. It's called push-to-pass and is part of the Sport Chrono Package. Pushing the button unleashes an additional 94 hp for 10 seconds, providing mighty overtaking power.

Gone are the days of wondering whether a gap is large enough to pass. In the Taycan Turbo S, the answer will be yes 99.9% of the time.

Every model in the range gets adaptive air suspension as standard. All but the entry-level RWD can be ordered with Porsche Active Ride suspension, which keeps the body of the vehicle level at all times while keeping the wheels in contact with the road. It's a $7,140 option for Taycan Turbo S, but we're willing to bet that it is standard fitment on the upcoming model that set the impressive Nurburgring lap time.

This new chassis system is not just meant for corners, however. It will also keep the body flat while braking and accelerating. Naturally, the same system can be used to make the ride as smooth as possible.

If you opt for this, you'll get a Jekyll and Hyde kind of car: one where you can sit back and listen to Wagner through the 14-speaker Bose surround sound system while the steering wheel warms your hands and another that will spank every other Porsche in a straight line.

Porsche introduced a new Performance Battery Plus, which has a capacity of 105 kWh, up from the previous model's 93 kWh. Even though the battery is larger and the Taycan has more equipment, the new car is 33 pounds lighter.

The 800-volt architecture has been retained, but Porsche has refined it to a point where the larger battery can be charged quicker and more efficiently.

First, the new model can be charged at up to 320 kW, 50 kW more than the older model. Thanks to intelligent thermal management, the car can charge at more than 300 kW for up to five minutes, even at colder temperatures. To demonstrate, Porsche provided a hypothetical charging situation, which folks in cold-weather states will enjoy.

A 10-80% charge in the new model takes 18 minutes, whereas the best-case scenario for the pre-facelift model was 23 minutes. However, in colder conditions (59 degrees Fahrenheit), the old model took 37 minutes; the new model still takes only 18, despite a bigger battery, thanks to the remarkably efficient thermal management tools now equipped to the EV.

The EPA hasn't provided range figures for the Taycan yet, but Porsche has already proved that certain models equipped with the Performance Battery Plus can cover roughly 365 miles in real-world conditions. We do have WLTP figures for the Taycan Turbo S, but it's worth pointing out that the EPA test cycle is much stricter and that these figures will likely dip.

For now, the figures we have are between 349 and 394 miles on the combined cycle and 383 and 432 miles in the city. That's more than enough if you understand the recharge versus range debate and the average distance Americans commute daily.

If you own a Taycan, you probably own a house with a garage attached to it. That means you'll have a Level 2 home charger that will top up the small percentage of battery you used. VW products now also have access to the Tesla Supercharger network, so fast charging will not be a problem, and the Taycan has charge ports on either side for ultimate convenience.

The Tesla Model S Plaid is a hypercar bargain. In a straight line, it can compete with cars that cost millions and it only costs $89,990. Porsche has nothing that can compete with that. The base 402-hp Taycan costs just over $100k, and it needs 4.5 seconds to reach 60 mph, which is glacial in this company.

To get Plaid-like performance, you're looking at $210,995 (before options) for a Turbo S. You can buy two Model S Plaids and one car from our list of affordable performance cars with a manual gearbox and have the best of both worlds. Once you dive into the configurator, things get really expensive. We created a fully loaded Turbo S using the online configurator, costing over $300,000.

The Lucid Air Sapphire retails for $249,000, and there's nothing you can add to it.

There's an excellent reason for this, however.

Model S Plaid owners think their cars compete directly with the Taycan, which is cute. They are similar in performance, but that's where the similarities end.

The Taycan is a high-end product with an interior and build quality that matches its price tag. The Model S Plaid can't claim the same. Tesla owners say build quality is improving, but we need more evidence to support this claim. In fact, we keep on receiving evidence to the contrary. The Model S, in general, is also one of the oldest cars on sale in the USA and desperately needs a revamp. Over-the-air updates will only get you so far...

The Lucid Air also has a few quality issues, like tire noise and buggy infotainment. These issues are the norm for young companies, but Tesla really should have gotten its act together by now.

Conversely, Porsche dates back to 1931 and is 93 years old (even though its first car is only 76 years old). It may have less experience building electric cars, but the latest Taycan proves it is closing the gap on the new players. Combine that with 93 years of know-how regarding everything else there is to know about building cars, and you have a winning recipe.