Porsche is planning to sell its first all-electric car at the start of the next decade, but already the company is saying it has seen “fantastic” interest in the Taycan EV on the part of potential buyers, in fact beyond what the automaker had predicted. The company is basing this on the number of names it has taken down of people wanting to reserve their copy of the eventual production version.
At present, the Porsche Taycan, previously known as the Porsche Mission E, remains a prototype and no more.
The situation does echo the one we saw when Tesla first started taking reservations of the Tesla Model 3 at the end of March, 2016. Porsche even took time this week to tip its hat to the maverick California-based automaker, mentioning the company’s role as a pioneer in high-performance electric mobility.
That might be the last bouquet Porsche throws at its rival, however: Porsche is setting its Taycan up as a direct rival to the Tesla Model S.
"The reaction from customers has been fantastic - from the moment we announced the car to now, when we have asked customers to register their interest for the first cars. They are talking to our dealers asking how to get to the top of the priority lists and asking to access more information."
- Alexander Polich, Porsche's UK managing director, to Autocar magazine
If you’re wondering where the future Taycan will fit as part of the Porsche lineup, it will slot in closer to the Panamera than to the 911, for example.
The production version of the Taycan should make its public debut somewhere in the world in 2019, with the first models rolling off the production line in 2020.
