My first Porsche has ruined other cars for me, and cured my range anxiety

[AnloTaycan2022]

Thank you Taycan Paris for a good positive review.
Just like you, my CT4 (MY22 on 21") is my first Porsche. I've had a long history with Mercedes, lastly a CLS Shooting-break which I found hard to replace, until I considered a Taycan. It meets my wife's demand of 4doors & seats and my demands of golf clubs without dropping seats - all wrapped into a great looking, quick and stylish package.
I too had apprehension about range, but having completed several trips up & down UK, even into remote areas, I now have no worries - neither for range nor availability of charging. I have also settled into the more comfortable regime of regular breaks, instead of 5 hours non-stop.
Nice to see your positive comments because there are a lot of negative threads on this forum - good to get useful info, but the negativity is quite depressing at times.
I'm disappointed that it looks like Porsche will stop the CT at least, and perhaps all models, because it's sitting in a perfect niche for shooting-break style, avoiding the SUV variants and full saloon/estate styles.

The CT is stopped only in the USA. We still have it in Canada and the same is true for Mexico.

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[Lee Chiacos]

Thank you for such a great review. I feel the same way about my '21 base model RWD. Even with less bells and whistles it's all Porsche.

 

[Andytemple]

Totally agree. Had a 2021 ct. Porsche ruined it for me giving me a turbo courtesy car. Upgraded to a turbo st and enjoy driving it every day. Recent trip from Devon to Tignes was a pleasure perhaps made easier by the French charging infrastructure.

 

[tophamn]

... Porsche ruined it for me giving me a turbo courtesy car...

Same for me! - Panamera Turbo-S in for service and given a Taycan Turbo loaner! -> I now drive a Taycan GTS ST

 

[Horizontally Opposed]

Great write up. I agree with you, although in my case this is my 4th Pcar. I had a C4s, two Macans, S and GTS, and now the CT4.

The CT4 has been terrific, and it always is a fun drive. I use it as my daily, and have about 23,000 miles at this point. In fact, I just did tires recently, and I like the handling a bit more with these than I did with the OE ones.

Enjoy!

 

[hvywght]

Completely agree. We had a RWD '22 which was amazing. Turned it in for a '26 4 Black Edition. Decided we needed AWD and with the updates for 2025 and 2026, the time was right. It gets so much better range, is way more solid feeling and drives like a dream. Our '22 was our first Porsche and EV. It was great and this '26 is even better. We get 285-300 miles of range at 85%. We have driven to the end of the cape and back with miles to spare and from Boston to Philly on one charge at 75-80mph with the a/c eco going.

Let's hope the rumors are false and they keep improving on the best EV ever made that is also a true Porsche.

 

[theblksurfwagon]

I bought my Taycan 4 Cross Turismo expecting to love it.

I did not expect it to completely reset my understanding of what a car could be.

This is my first Porsche. I came into the brand without decades of 911 ownership behind me, without childhood memories of air-cooled engines, and without any particular need to defend the badge. I simply wanted a fast, beautiful, practical electric car that could carry my family and our luggage across Europe.

What I found was something far more special.

My CT4 is a 2022 car on 20-inch Turbo S Aero wheels, with rear-axle steering, air suspension, the panoramic roof, roof rails and the Off-Road Design Package. In other words, it is not the lightest, lowest or most range-optimised Taycan ever built.

And I absolutely adore it.

There are faster Taycans, of course. Much faster ones. But I genuinely struggle to imagine needing more performance on a public road. The CT4 already delivers that surreal Taycan sensation: immediate acceleration, immense traction and a centre of gravity that makes two tonnes of family estate car seem to disappear beneath you.

What impresses me most, however, is not how fast it is.

It is the completeness of it.

It can glide silently through a town with the composure of a luxury car, then shrink around you on a twisting road. The steering is beautifully judged. The body control is extraordinary. The rear-axle steering makes it feel far smaller than it is. The ride remains composed even when the road deteriorates. Then you park it, look back, and remember that this wonderfully practical family car also happens to be one of the most beautiful shapes Porsche has ever produced.

The Cross Turismo does not feel like an electric estate wearing a Porsche badge. It feels like Porsche took the electric drivetrain seriously enough to build an entirely new kind of Porsche around it.

And then there is the subject that seems to dominate every Taycan discussion: range.

Before buying mine, I read everything. Disappointing range estimates. Winter consumption. Battery degradation. Charging curves. Stories about people arriving at chargers with 3 per cent remaining, apparently one broken Ionity station away from disaster.

I assumed range would be the compromise I would have to accept in exchange for everything else.

It has not been.

Since collecting the car, we have driven it from Paris to the south of France, from Paris to Bremen, across Denmark and Sweden, and on countless shorter family journeys. One day it is covering 800 kilometres through rain, heat and motorway traffic. The next it is carrying children and luggage along small coastal roads. Most recently, we drove from Höllviken to Bjärred, across to Louisiana in Denmark, and back again.

It simply gets on with it.

On faster motorway journeys at 120 to 130 km/h, I generally see consumption in the region of 24 to 25 kWh/100 km. In good conditions on slower roads, the car regularly drops towards 18 to 21. I have seen sub-18 figures over meaningful distances. From a large, four-wheel-drive, two-tonne Cross Turismo with an off-road package, that is remarkable.

No, it will not travel 500 motorway kilometres at 130 km/h without stopping. But neither will my family.

After two or three hours, somebody needs coffee, food, a toilet or simply ten minutes outside the car. When the battery is warm and the charger is working properly, the Taycan often finishes charging before we have finished doing whatever caused us to stop.

That is the part the range-anxiety conversation misses.

You do not experience an electric road trip as one enormous countdown from 100 per cent to zero. You experience it as a series of very manageable driving stages, with short stops that fit naturally into the journey. The Taycan’s great strength is not merely the size of its battery. It is how efficiently it uses that battery, how consistently it covers ground and how quickly it can take energy back on board.

After thousands of kilometres, I no longer think, “Can the car make it?”

I think, “Where would we like to stop?” That is a profound difference.

Of course, it is not perfect. The software can occasionally remind you that Porsche had considerably more experience building chassis than computers. The range estimator can be comically pessimistic after a run of short journeys. Public charging infrastructure still varies enormously. And owning a Taycan will teach you far more about temperature, wind and elevation than you ever expected to know.

But none of those things defines the ownership experience.

What defines it is the moment you leave early in the morning with the family asleep, the cabin quiet and the road almost empty. It is the way the car settles at speed, utterly stable and untroubled. It is the little movement of the steering wheel as you guide it into a long bend. It is the impossible combination of calmness and urgency. It is arriving hundreds of kilometres later feeling as though the car could turn around and do the whole journey again.

The Taycan is sometimes discussed as though it were an early and now outdated attempt at an electric Porsche, judged mainly by a WLTP number or compared with newer cars carrying larger batteries.

That misses the point entirely.

A car is not a battery specification with seats attached. Range matters, but so do steering, braking, comfort, confidence, design, build quality and the simple desire to drive somewhere for no reason other than the road itself.

The Taycan, and perhaps especially the Cross Turismo, brings all of those things together in a way I have never experienced before.

It is a sports car when I want one, a quiet long-distance express when I need one, and a family estate every day. It carries children, suitcases and all the debris of family life, yet still makes an ordinary journey feel like an event.

So yes, my first Porsche is electric.

It is also one of the finest cars I have ever driven.

And if this is what entering the Porsche world feels like, I finally understand why so many people never leave.

 

[theblksurfwagon]

The car looks great parked on the side of your home. When I first drove the Taycan, I was also seriously considering the Audi RS6 because I wanted an estate. After driving the Taycan the first time at my local Porsche dealer, that was right next door to the Audi dealership. I knew I was in trouble.

 

[MoniqueDenver]

I also have a 4CT but without the Roof Rack. I recently put 19" Aero wheels on them. When I drive in Range and use cruise control, I can get up to 4 hrs of driving at 80mph (which I think is about 145kph). But like you said, my bladder gives out before the battery does.

one thing I will add is that the car is AMAZING in snow, ice and soft roading. Did 100 mi dirt road in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah last month. (Picture at the end of the road. The guy who rented the off road RV also took a picture for the contrast.)

Also my first Porsche, my second EV. I've already decided that I'm either buying a new Taycan from Canada or will have to figure out how to replace the battery because I don't want to give it up!

 

[Flying ace]

I love my GTS Sport Turismo. I know it has a shelf life bc my two kids are soon teenagers and will require a larger vehicle. But for the next 2 years, I'm still going to enjoy every mile on this car.

 

[Gkwan]

I bought my Taycan 4 Cross Turismo expecting to love it.

I did not expect it to completely reset my understanding of what a car could be.

This is my first Porsche. I came into the brand without decades of 911 ownership behind me, without childhood memories of air-cooled engines, and without any particular need to defend the badge. I simply wanted a fast, beautiful, practical electric car that could carry my family and our luggage across Europe.

What I found was something far more special.

My CT4 is a 2022 car on 20-inch Turbo S Aero wheels, with rear-axle steering, air suspension, the panoramic roof, roof rails and the Off-Road Design Package. In other words, it is not the lightest, lowest or most range-optimised Taycan ever built.

And I absolutely adore it.

There are faster Taycans, of course. Much faster ones. But I genuinely struggle to imagine needing more performance on a public road. The CT4 already delivers that surreal Taycan sensation: immediate acceleration, immense traction and a centre of gravity that makes two tonnes of family estate car seem to disappear beneath you.

What impresses me most, however, is not how fast it is.

It is the completeness of it.

It can glide silently through a town with the composure of a luxury car, then shrink around you on a twisting road. The steering is beautifully judged. The body control is extraordinary. The rear-axle steering makes it feel far smaller than it is. The ride remains composed even when the road deteriorates. Then you park it, look back, and remember that this wonderfully practical family car also happens to be one of the most beautiful shapes Porsche has ever produced.

The Cross Turismo does not feel like an electric estate wearing a Porsche badge. It feels like Porsche took the electric drivetrain seriously enough to build an entirely new kind of Porsche around it.

And then there is the subject that seems to dominate every Taycan discussion: range.

Before buying mine, I read everything. Disappointing range estimates. Winter consumption. Battery degradation. Charging curves. Stories about people arriving at chargers with 3 per cent remaining, apparently one broken Ionity station away from disaster.

I assumed range would be the compromise I would have to accept in exchange for everything else.

It has not been.

Since collecting the car, we have driven it from Paris to the south of France, from Paris to Bremen, across Denmark and Sweden, and on countless shorter family journeys. One day it is covering 800 kilometres through rain, heat and motorway traffic. The next it is carrying children and luggage along small coastal roads. Most recently, we drove from Höllviken to Bjärred, across to Louisiana in Denmark, and back again.

It simply gets on with it.

On faster motorway journeys at 120 to 130 km/h, I generally see consumption in the region of 24 to 25 kWh/100 km. In good conditions on slower roads, the car regularly drops towards 18 to 21. I have seen sub-18 figures over meaningful distances. From a large, four-wheel-drive, two-tonne Cross Turismo with an off-road package, that is remarkable.

No, it will not travel 500 motorway kilometres at 130 km/h without stopping. But neither will my family.

After two or three hours, somebody needs coffee, food, a toilet or simply ten minutes outside the car. When the battery is warm and the charger is working properly, the Taycan often finishes charging before we have finished doing whatever caused us to stop.

That is the part the range-anxiety conversation misses.

You do not experience an electric road trip as one enormous countdown from 100 per cent to zero. You experience it as a series of very manageable driving stages, with short stops that fit naturally into the journey. The Taycan’s great strength is not merely the size of its battery. It is how efficiently it uses that battery, how consistently it covers ground and how quickly it can take energy back on board.

After thousands of kilometres, I no longer think, “Can the car make it?”

I think, “Where would we like to stop?” That is a profound difference.

Of course, it is not perfect. The software can occasionally remind you that Porsche had considerably more experience building chassis than computers. The range estimator can be comically pessimistic after a run of short journeys. Public charging infrastructure still varies enormously. And owning a Taycan will teach you far more about temperature, wind and elevation than you ever expected to know.

But none of those things defines the ownership experience.

What defines it is the moment you leave early in the morning with the family asleep, the cabin quiet and the road almost empty. It is the way the car settles at speed, utterly stable and untroubled. It is the little movement of the steering wheel as you guide it into a long bend. It is the impossible combination of calmness and urgency. It is arriving hundreds of kilometres later feeling as though the car could turn around and do the whole journey again.

The Taycan is sometimes discussed as though it were an early and now outdated attempt at an electric Porsche, judged mainly by a WLTP number or compared with newer cars carrying larger batteries.

That misses the point entirely.

A car is not a battery specification with seats attached. Range matters, but so do steering, braking, comfort, confidence, design, build quality and the simple desire to drive somewhere for no reason other than the road itself.

The Taycan, and perhaps especially the Cross Turismo, brings all of those things together in a way I have never experienced before.

It is a sports car when I want one, a quiet long-distance express when I need one, and a family estate every day. It carries children, suitcases and all the debris of family life, yet still makes an ordinary journey feel like an event.

So yes, my first Porsche is electric.

It is also one of the finest cars I have ever driven.

And if this is what entering the Porsche world feels like, I finally understand why so many people never leave.

haha, excellent summary, I'm in exactly the same case as you except my 1st jump into Porsche world was Dec'25, and it's a Turbo - I couldn't go for CT because IMHO it's a crime to pure design (the sedan is perfect) even though I of course acknowledge the practical aspects

Starting with a horrible winter made me doubt of my choice (effective range was 280 to 300km max, 35kwh in town to town).
Then, to cut it short, summer came, I drove 2000km in the center-south of France (Aveyron) by 35°c, A/C 100%, 50% highway 140kmh in "range" then the rest in confort mode : 40% smaller roads at 90 or 110, 10% city at 50kmh and I rediscovered my car : ~20kwh average, I saw the figure "400km" for the 1st time in my display (even 420 at 100%), it finally charged at 250-260km because I took the Porsche Connect services & could program Electra stations in it, and the car behaves beautifully in the small roads.

All you said, I concur, it's a brilliant car, people who concentrate (always) on the negative stuff are just missing out
I told myself I'd sell it after 1 year to avoid losing to much (it's a mid-2020 model), and I'm super tempted to jump to the Cayenne Coupé instead, but now I'm not so sure I should sell it

 

[Gkwan]

I also have a 4CT but without the Roof Rack. I recently put 19" Aero wheels on them. When I drive in Range and use cruise control, I can get up to 4 hrs of driving at 80mph (which I think is about 145kph). But like you said, my bladder gives out before the battery does.

one thing I will add is that the car is AMAZING in snow, ice and soft roading. Did 100 mi dirt road in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Utah last month. (Picture at the end of the road. The guy who rented the off road RV also took a picture for the contrast.)

Also my first Porsche, my second EV. I've already decided that I'm either buying a new Taycan from Canada or will have to figure out how to replace the battery because I don't want to give it up!

you're lovely in green Monique ! lol

 

[MoniqueDenver]

you're lovely in green Monique ! lol

C'est Vrai!

It is a great contrast with the red dirt of Utah!

 

[Gkwan]

C'est Vrai!

It is a great contrast with the red dirt of Utah!

lol, mais tu parles français ?? cool, on va démarre un topic en Français alors !

 

[MoniqueDenver]

Avec un nom comme Monique? Bien sur! Malheureusement, pas très bien. Il y a plus de 30 ans que J'ai vécu en France et j'ai oublié tout mon vocabulaire.

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