Less than a month after officially debuting the first two versions of its new all-electric Taycan model, the Turbo and Turbo S variants, Porsche strikes again with the 4S, a base variant whose price point will lead it to compete directly with the Tesla Model S.
This, of course, couldn’t really be said about the two initial Taycans rolled out by Porsche given their $173,900 and $213,900 asking prices. This new version lines the model up to compete on equal terms with Tesla’s offering, in fact the 4S is priced similarly to the Panamera 4S.
Performance
The flip side of the coin is that buyers will get slightly inferior performance from this variant of the Taycan. The battery’s capacity, for one, drops from 93.4 kWh to 79.2 kWh – though typically for Porsche, the bigger battery is still available as an option.
Overall power is also diminished, but let’s agree that the drop from 562 to 522 hp is not exactly calamitous. Power is still sent to all four wheels thanks to the configuration of the electric motors, and 0-100 km/h acceleration time remains unchanged at 4 seconds.
And how about range?
The European Cycle testing for the Taycan 4S is officially 407 km, which should translate to around 325 km in North America. Maximum charging capacity will likely also be reduced, but not by very much. The adaptive air suspension system is still in place, as are the 6-piston calipers for the front brakes (the back gets 4-piston calipers).
Canadian consumers can already place orders for a Taycan 4S, though the first deliveries won’t happen before summer 2020.
