Porsche just revealed and launched their long anticipated Taycan, the first ever badged all electric car from the german manufacturer, the P1 being the first electric Porsche, although it never wore the Porsche badge. Now, if you’re an old-school car passionate like me, it might not seem like the most exciting news of them all, and even sound very bad as more and more car manufacturers will probably increase their offering of electric cars, downsizing their current engines, to the expense of developing propre petrolhead’s car. Nevertheless, if you always wanted an electric car (for whatever strange reason, that I could never understand, although I tried, sorry), I believe this is the best news of the industry this year for you. So here’s why Porsche’s brand new Taycan is the worst news and the best news for the car industry. Text: Mickael B. © Photos: Tesla ©, Porsche ©
Tesla’s are my own very personification of the automotive devil
I am an old school petrolhead. If you have been reading my previous reports and articles, you’ve probably figured it already by now. I like big, noisy, naturally aspirated engines, with a manual gearbox and a rear wheel drive transmission, in a car that breathes passion for driving, and an interior that screams craftsmanship or lightweightness. Basically, I like unpractical cars who do have a soul, with a true defined character. Everything opposite to a Tesla.
The Tesla Model S (the first ever sedan from the american electric car manufacturer) was and is still my personal enemy, or even worse, my own very personification of the automotive devil that truly pisses me off everytime I see one. It has no petrol engine, no manual transmission, four wheel drive, no soul, an interior which looks like a millenial’s office, and an autopilot so that you don’t have to worry about driving. Basically, no passion, just an obsolescence programmed “thing” to go from point A to point B, while you don’t even have to bother driving. Is this how lazy and how much consumerism humanity wants?
Tesla has turned electric cars into consumerables. Will the Porsche Taycan change that?
I am really sad to note that cars, thanks to Tesla will tend to be like our smartphones in a few years time. Consumerables we do not care about and change just as much as we would change socks. How f****** sad. I wish we could turn back time and bring back the fun, the craziness, and the passion from the sixties and seventies for cars. An era where even affordable, daily driver family cars could be fun, something we have not seen in years, if not decades in the industry. Just take a look and drive an Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600, or the BMW 2002 for example.
Are there any real modern examples of such great cars? I do not think so. That is what makes them absolutely irreplaceable. I am starting to really think that in our society of conformism, cars like this would seem like an anomaly, and people would think that you are strange for buying, and even more driving such an antique. They would probably even call the police, because of your unreliable human driving, compared to their autopilot which is able to anticipate everything. The Tesla is the perfect example of everything wrong in our society.
Are electric cars really better for the environment? Doubtful
Why? There is an additional element to Tesla, that most people do not talk about, but has been proven and documented in numerous studies and publications worldwide. The Tesla is not environmental friendly. At all. Interestingly, it is actually even worse than a normal petrol or diesel car on a normal usage comparison when you look at the whole product environmental lifecycle. The production of the batteries is an environmental nightmare, as the raw material usually is extracted from mines in South America, then shipped to China where the batteries are produced at the cost of damaging local rivers and soils, then shipped again to North America to be mounted in the car finally. Ever wondered what a logistics spaghetti bowl looks like?
Well, just look at the manufacturing of a Tesla. Not only is the production of the batteries very damaging to the environment, but the recycling of Lithium Ion batteries is not yet fully mastered and most of the used batteries usually end up being landfilled with their lot of heavy metals, damaging our earth. Additionally, the real benefit of driving an electric car might not be that great or could even turn out as more damaging to the environment if the country where you are is using electricity from nuclear power plants or coil plants. Now, add to this that you might need to change batteries every 4 to 5 years, and so much for your good environmental conscious, right? Next time just buy a used petrol car, that’ll be better.
The Porsche will be hands down better than the Tesla
Now, is the Porsche Taycan just a more expensive Tesla? I don’t think so. I think Porsche’s first electric car is a better Tesla. So if it is better than the devil, what does it make it? A demon? Maybe. But would I buy one? Never. Would I recommend anyone to buy one? Never. The only case where I would tell you to get a Taycan, is if I could not convince you that an electric car is a bad choice. The Porsche – although being more expensive than the Tesla – has been designed by Porsche engineers and mechanics, which are probably amongst the best on the planet.
Hence I have very little doubts that the Taycan will be more accomplished than the Model S, its most direct rival. In addition it is a Porsche, so it will be fast, comfortable, superbly finished and offer better driving sensation than the american manufacturer’s flagship car. The only major drawback of Porsche’s first electric car might be its autonomy, from 225 miles to 270 miles (362 to 435 kilometers), which is quite short.
Reasoning of the electric car potential buyer
But in what case would you want or need an electric car? Let’s list out all the potential arguments, and try to dismantle them, one by one:
1. You want a silent car. For a similar price than Tesla’s Model S or Porsche’s Taycan, the Mercedes-Benz E Class or S Class can provide you with the same level of sound proofing.
2. You want an environmental friendly car. As stated above, electric cars are usually worse in terms of environment than traditionnal petrol car. If you really care for the environment, don’t buy a car. Use public transport or a bike.
3. You want a fast car. No gas powered cars can be faster off the line than an electric car. So if your priority is to steal the lead from every red light to 60 miles per hour (100 km/h), then yes, an electric car might be your only viable option. Although, you will drain your battery life very fast, and you should never forget that past 60 miles per hour, other cars will start picking up and eventually overtaking you, while you’ll have to wait a very long time for your battery to recharge.
Electric cars are silent, environmentally friendly and fast. Yes, but some petrol engined cars too.
4. You want a four wheel drive car. Most electric cars have four wheel drive, which is very convenient when the road gets slippery and when it snows. Today though, finding a four wheel drive car is much easier than it used to be as the offering has increased drastically with almost all brands having four wheel drive transmissions available on most of their cars.
5. You want a car that drives itself. Tesla’s main selling argument, apart from their environmental b*******, is their Autopilot, which is great if you have a commute with traffic jams, very long drives or if you just hate driving. The car drives itself from whatever desired point A to whichever pinpointed point B. And although Tesla claims they are the only one offering such a solution, most manufacturers now have fully – or near full – automated driving systems, such as active lane guiding, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign readers, automatic turn signals, etc. The level of automation cars are offering right now is either matching or a near match to Tesla’s.
6. You want two trunks. Yes Tesla’s have two trunks, one at the front, one at the back, thanks to their four engines located close to the wheels. If you want a big trunk though, your average sedan will already have plenty, and if you really need more, get yourself a minivan or a truck.
The non existent network of electric charging station is one of the major drawbacks of electric cars
And now on the drawbacks of the electric car:
1. The charging time and autonomy. In contrary to gas stations, which you can usually find very simply, and almost everywhere, charging stations are still not available in all places, and it takes a very long time to charge back your car (around 12 hours for a full charge), in comparison to around 10 minutes to fill your gas tank back to full. Plus your electric car is going to struggle to get 300 miles out of one charge, while your petrol car should be able to achieve 400 quite easily. So an electric car is definetely not your friend on long road trips.
2. Tesla might go bankrupt. The financials within the american manufacturer are still not doing good, and although Elon Musk, its founder still tries to reassurate everyone that everything’s fine, his attempts to buy back Tesla’s own shares, and the fact he did not invest anything from his own money in his own company, shows how precarious Musk’s company situation is. Amd once it goes bankrupt, who is going to provide with parts and support?
3. No real dealer network for Tesla. Musk’s other sales argument for Tesla is that there is no dealer fees, because there are no dealers, but if you have an issue, where to go to repair it? The network is still fairly small.
Electric cars are still expensive. I’d reckon we should wait a few years.
4. Other car manufacturers have started launching electric cars development programs. Renault Nissan started very early an electric car program with the Renault Zoe, the Nissan Leaf, and the Renault Twizy, but today a lot of other brands are launching or developing electric cars, which will help on the long term for a more sane market. Just look at Audi and their e-tron range, expanding year after year, and now… Porsche.
5. The Taycan has a weird name. Both Taycan models are called Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S. Ironic, isn’t it? Although neither of them has a Turbo, Porsche decided to stick with the iconic name first introduced on the legendary 911 Turbo 930. An insult to this car, to all Porsche Turbos, and to the inventor of the turbocharger.
6. Electric cars are expensive. And the Porsche Taycan is no exception. With a price tag starting at 150’900 $ for the Taycan Turbo and 185’000 $ for the Turbo S, it seems pretty outrageous. Even a Tesla Model 3, one of the cheapest electric car you can buy starts around 35’000 $, whereas you can find some very decent new cars for as less as half as this amount.
In conclusion, you probably already figured out that I am more than skeptic towards electric cars. If I had a Porsche Taycan budget for a new fast sedan (between 150’000 $ or 185’000 $), I would go for a Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG or E63 S. It would just be the better choice. And if you’d want a Porsche Taycan, I would do anything in my power to convince you of the same thing.
Check out our gallery below of the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Turbo S.
