The 2020 Porsche Taycan: The Empire Strikes Back
The Porsche Taycan has finally arrived, and it is a triumph. Not because of the specs or the speeches or the stunning Niagara Falls backdrop in front of which one is rotating as I write this. It’s a triumph because it makes me feel something I rarely feel about any new car, at any price.
I want one.
Why? Because it's not boring. Most new cars — especially electric vehicles — are boring. Everyone talks about cutting edge technology, but almost everyone buys the same modular components from the same suppliers to build the same sausage with a different badge on it. Even supercars are boring. They're so boring the word "hypercar" was invented to solve the boredom. But, as Hannah Elliot pointed out, hypercars themselves are mostly meant to sit and depreciate until their "owners" can't make their payments, or they're kicked off YouTube. Which makes hypercars boring too.
The Porsche Taycan is an icepick in the face of boring.
Just look at it. It looks exactly like the first all-electric Porsche should. Wait until you feel the way the doors shut. It's built like a f*cking tank. The paint is incredible. The touchpoints are perfect. The materials are gorgeous. The seats fit one like a cliched glove. Its specs are incredible in every way that matters: 0-60mph in a repeatable 2.6 seconds. It's capable of a sustained 161 mph. It corners like a track car, because it's built for the track.
These are the reasons one buys a Porsche.
Yes, a Tesla Model S P100D will 0-60 faster, but only an idiot will brag about that. Driving is the art of turning, and the Taycan is designed for that first. I love my Tesla as much as any other Tesla fan, but in no universe can you track a Model S the way you can a Taycan.
I want one.
Why? Because it's not boring. Most new cars — especially electric vehicles — are boring. Everyone talks about cutting edge technology, but almost everyone buys the same modular components from the same suppliers to build the same sausage with a different badge on it. Even supercars are boring. They're so boring the word "hypercar" was invented to solve the boredom. But, as Hannah Elliot pointed out, hypercars themselves are mostly meant to sit and depreciate until their "owners" can't make their payments, or they're kicked off YouTube. Which makes hypercars boring too.
The Porsche Taycan is an icepick in the face of boring.
Just look at it. It looks exactly like the first all-electric Porsche should. Wait until you feel the way the doors shut. It's built like a f*cking tank. The paint is incredible. The touchpoints are perfect. The materials are gorgeous. The seats fit one like a cliched glove. Its specs are incredible in every way that matters: 0-60mph in a repeatable 2.6 seconds. It's capable of a sustained 161 mph. It corners like a track car, because it's built for the track.
These are the reasons one buys a Porsche.
Yes, a Tesla Model S P100D will 0-60 faster, but only an idiot will brag about that. Driving is the art of turning, and the Taycan is designed for that first. I love my Tesla as much as any other Tesla fan, but in no universe can you track a Model S the way you can a Taycan.