6200 miles and counting: 2021 Taycan 4S impressions

[T C]

Disclaimer: This is my 1st EV, and may influence my comparison/opinion.
Build: Volcano Grey MY21 4s w/ 93kWh battery, 19 inch standard wheels and very little else (folding mirrors, Bose, rear seat heat, …).
Previous car: 2014 Cayman w/ PDK

The Good:

. Instant torque & rapid acceleration from a stop.
. Handling is surprisingly good, considering it’s ~ 5000 lbs.
. Seating position ( I am 6’ 1”), steering feel, fit and finish, visibility and access to controls is very good. The 8 way adjustable seats work fine for me.
. Level 2 charging (@ home) is seamless.
. Noise level in the cabin is very low, and one needs to pay attention to the speedometer or risk being pulled over (the sonic excitement of the flat sixes are absent but I guess that’s a trade off we have agreed to live with !!)
. Air suspension w/ PASM is sublime. Changing from normal to Sport, changes the driving characteristics (acceleration, ride & handling) of the car substantially; it almost feels like driving a different car!!

The Bad:

. PCM: Too many quirks to list. Can’t fathom how VW could have botched it up this bad; my wife’s Q7 has an interface that works flawlessly and is far more intuitive. It’s possible ( and I am perhaps being more charitable than VW deserves ) that the EV functionality makes the integration more challenging OR maybe Porsche has an NIH mindset that lead to this debacle. At any rate , this quagmire needs to be corrected.
. Climate control: NO MANUAL A/C VENT CONTROL!!

Strange Behavior:

. Navigation GPS: While I use google maps on CarPlay as my primary navigation method, I did notice that, on occasion, the built in GPS looses lock and never recovers until the PCM has been restarted; have observed it 3 times. The third time it happened, google maps on my phone, connected through CarPlay was also having a similar issue (independent GPS systems). Soon after CarPlay disconnected and google maps was shut down by iOS. Unsure what could cause this (RF interference from the motor control system?) but wanted to bring it up in case someone else has experienced it.

Overall:

The Taycan is my daily drive; it sees a 30/70 mix of highway and city driving. Apart from the PCM annoyance, the car is an absolute joy to drive. In winter (North Texas) I was averaging 270 miles of range for a full charge (extrapolated, don’t charge it beyond 80% for regular weekly use). This summer the range is going up, as expected. While it has rapid straight line acceleration, it does struggle to stay planted on sharp corners, compared to my Cayman.

Misc:

. I don’t find the back up camera as annoying as others in the forum have reported; I am comparing it to a Q7 360 view camera, which is quite good and provides better overall positional awareness, however the Taycan back up camera ( I don’t have the surround view option) works for me.

. The “foot gesture“ trunk opener actually works IF you master the gesture!! Earlier I was struggling to get this to work, but stumbled upon a video that showed how (sorry can’t find the link anymore). In short, imagine kicking a soccer ball that is under the trunk right below the square button that opens the trunk. If you make the motion quickly (without smashing your shin/knee into the rear bumper!!), it works every time.

. I think the 2 speed transmission makes sense if you need high efficiency and high torque at high speeds ( >100 mph); not a key requirement for US roads but for track/autobahn may be a nice plus?



Thanks to all the forum members for sharing their valuable insights and experiences. I find this forum a treasure trove of good information.

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[Jhenson29]

Great comments. I always enjoy reading write-ups like this.

One comment of my own though regarding the below:

I think the 2 speed transmission makes sense if you need high efficiency and high torque at high speeds ( >100 mph)

The wheel torque will be the same in either gear once you reach the constant HP range of the motor. This is around 30mph in first and 60mph in second. So, the most wheel torque is available below 30mph and starts to drop off from there. And by 60mph, wheel torque is the same in either gear.

But…the motor also has a max speed. In first, it can’t even reach 100mph (I don’t think it can even reach 90).

Really, IMO, I think that if Porsche only had one gear, it would be similar if not identical to the existing second gear.

That makes first gear the “extra” gear, and the purpose is increased wheel torque at lower car speeds for higher acceleration. Basically, optimizing acceleration for the available power.

 

[goofysurfer]

Did you sell/trade in your Cayman? How much did you get for it if you don't mind my asking.

 

[T C]

Did you sell/trade in your Cayman? How much did you get for it if you don't mind my asking.

Yes, I did sell my Cayman to CARVANA for approximately 67% of what I paid for it new; an individual buyer would have paid a bit more perhaps, but I wasn’t keen on the additional legwork.

 

[ardevd]

Am I the only one who loves the climate vent control? In all my previous cars the vents have been adjusted all over the place. Either passengers just adjust them nonsensically or they bump into them by accident in the back seat and I have to crawl around and adjust them back. In the Taycan I can set the optimal vent position once and know that they’ll stay that way unless I change them through the PCM. I think it’s a great system. Tesla’s implementation of the same concept is far superior but in general I love the idea.

 

[T C]

Great comments. I always enjoy reading write-ups like this.

One comment of my own though regarding the below:



The wheel torque will be the same in either gear once you reach the constant HP range of the motor. This is around 30mph in first and 60mph in second. So, the most wheel torque is available below 30mph and starts to drop off from there. And by 60mph, wheel torque is the same in either gear.

But…the motor also has a max speed. In first, it can’t even reach 100mph (I don’t think it can even reach 90).

Really, IMO, I think that if Porsche only had one gear, it would be similar if not identical to the existing second gear.

That makes first gear the “extra” gear, and the purpose is increased wheel torque at lower car speeds for higher acceleration. Basically, optimizing acceleration for the available power.

Totally agree with you regarding the effect of gearing (or lack there of) once the motor is in the constant power band (torque x rpm = constant). I suspect the gains are predominantly in the lower rpm range where the torque is flat (power goes linearly with rpm). Here is an interesting article that talks about the impact of the 2-speed transmission on overall performance:

https://insideevs.com/news/343827/porsche-taycan-2-speed-rear-transaxle-performance-modeled/

The axle torque vs. speed graph from that article is pasted below:

Interesting to note that outside the ~50-60 MPH band, the 2-gear option does seem to deliver more power at any given speed (using the gear ratios used in their model). I think gearing or other power delivery optimization tricks will boil down to efficiency/performance/complexity(cost) trade-offs that each vehicle manufacturer decides to optimize. All this may be entirely academic and we will very likely choose a vehicle based on our transportation needs, driving taste and budgets .

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