Taycan to Switzerland & Austria

[tigerbalm]

Day 4: Interlaken (Switzerland) -> Täsch/Zermatt (Switzerland)

A very lazy day today – this is a relaxing holiday after all!

We awake to a very nice view of the Swiss alps and Jungfrau peak out of our bedroom window.



We check-out at midday and have a fully charged car delivered up to reception. Navigation is easy today – point the car towards the mountains!

Though not planned for – there is always opportunities for some twists and turns in Switzerland.

And it's not long until we're boarding the car train at Kandersteg to take us through the Lötschberg tunnel under the Bernese Alps.

Remembering to set Transport Mode on the Porsche Vehicle Tracking Service (PVTS+) while in the queue. It is warm in the tunnel – it is so nice to be able to run full air-conditioning in an EV.

We always nearly fall asleep in the tunnel – it's dark with a gentle rocking motion and the ambient lighting of the Taycan just makes it very comfortable.

Once off the train on the other side – we head south on the road towards Zermatt.

As Zermatt is a car-free town – we have pre-paid parking at Täsch – including booking a space on floor three – which is dedicated to EV charging.



Where every space here has a 22 kW AC charger – which is trivial to get going using a QR code and Apple Pay – no apps required.

The setup reminds me of the BMW Museum in Munich – though there each charger only had a 3 kW supply.



We've also pre-paid for the train up to Zermatt – and present a bar code from out mobile phone to open the gates.



The shuttles up the mountain are frequent.



We're staying at The Omnia again – which now has the familiar cave entrance and elevator up to reception.

Where we're given a well appointed suite – each time getting a free upgrade here.



And a telescope allowing us to observe the changing light on The Matterhorn.

Tomorrow we get back to the mountain passes.

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
Täsch	74%	100%	21.8	€12.60	1 hour 14 mins	27	32	AC 22 kW	Apple Pay

Today we did 96 km over 2:50 hours, with an average speed of 34 km/h, consuming 24.5 kWh/100km.

 

[tigerbalm]

I notice you’re a Dubliner

While I've lived there for twenty plus years, I am originally from Kerry – grew up just outside Killarney. Quite a few of the hotels in Killarney have Porsche Destination Charging – in fact the hotel right beside the one you stayed in does as well!

 

[tigerbalm]

With the latest Tesla Supercharging price reductions, I had planned to try a trip home, exclusively using those, before my car decided otherwise. Ionity networks are great in Europe and economic but would like to compare.

The DC port positioning of UK/Irish Taycan's make this extra difficult – unless at a very quiet station where you can take up two pedestals with the way you have to park.

 

[ciaranob]

Day 4: Interlaken (Switzerland) -> Täsch/Zermatt (Switzerland)

Remembering to set Transport Mode on the Porsche Vehicle Tracking Service (PVTS+) while in the queue. It is warm in the tunnel – it is so nice to be able to run full air-conditioning in an EV.

We always nearly fall asleep in the tunnel – it's dark with a gentle rocking motion and the ambient lighting of the Taycan just makes it very comfortable.

Still going down memory lane with you We hung a right after the train ride to visit Sion - cool town in many aspects. Recall being a wee bit nervous loading the new car on that railway car!

 

[tigerbalm]

Morning view of The Matterhorn

Despite seeing it many times – morning time light on The Matterhorn never gets old.

And a little bit of cheating with the crane taken out!

 

[Poshfpg]

While I've lived there for twenty plus years, I am originally from Kerry – grew up just outside Killarney. Quite a few of the hotels in Killarney have Porsche Destination Charging – in fact the hotel right beside the one you stayed in does as well!

A very measured response to an insult like that

 

[Porsche-Guru]

Morning view of The Matterhorn

Despite seeing it many times – morning time light on The Matterhorn never gets old.

This brings up great memories... The below are from our trip last April..

Happy travels...

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 5: Täsch (Switzerland) -> Andermatt (Switzerland)

We check out of our hotel in Zermatt and walk down to the train station. Zermatt is car-free and they use these little electric shuttles to run around with.



And board a mostly empty train down to our fully charged car.



We're heading to Andermatt today – but taking the scenic route via the Simpolon Pass.

It is a beautiful day with temperatures hovering around 30C. We pull in and eat some sandwiches we had purchased in Zermatt. Where the views and infrastructure around you is always impressive.



We continue our climb up the pass reaching the summit shortly after midday. Driving up these roads in "Sport" mode is a true joy – with always adequate power available in the Turbo S.

Where we try and take more photos of the mountains



The vista's on the way down were magnificent.

Taking plenty of stops to enjoy the views.



We pop into Italy.

Where the tunnels do not seem to be as well maintained as they are in Switzerland.

Driving through many quaint Italian towns.

Before getting stuck behind a French bus that was nearly wider than the road.

Which eventually – and sensibly – decided to turn around as the road got narrower.

Freeing up the road for us to have a blast – though the Taycan is too wide to really be able to thread it through the corners with oncoming traffic.

This is so much fun!

Squeeze – tummies in!

Eventually we reach Bellinzona and turn north for the Gotthard Road tunnel.

Which we reach after about 15 minutes – of expected queuing to enter.

It is nearly 17 km of two way road.

Switching our air-con to "recycle" mode to prevent fumes from entering our cabin – while keeping us cool from the warm and polluted air inside the tunnel.

Exiting the tunnel as the daylight is starting to get dimmer. It's always an enjoyable sprint up to Andermatt – if there isn't too much traffic.

It's an efficient check-in at The Chedi – where we're staying for two nights. The valet parks the car in their underground garage and plug in for a 22 kW charge.

We're living – as planned – on destination charges for this portion of the road-trip. With ICE cars – hotels certainly don't fill them up with petrol for you overnight!

The "standard" rooms in this hotel are always very roomy and it's a great base to explore the many mountain passes in the area. Tomorrow is dedicated to doing as many as possible!

With the many regenerative braking opportunities today – we were impressed with our average consumption across the journey – especially considering we did have a 1800 meter climb.

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
The Chedi Andermatt	34%	100%	56.9	€0.00	3 hours 9 mins	25	31	AC 22 kW	Free

Today we did 169 km over 4:20 hours, with an average speed of 40 km/h, consuming 16.1 kWh/100km.

 

[mikezhang31]

beautiful, and thank you for sharing with us your experience!

 

[cityhpper]

Great write-up and pictures, thanks for taking us along! Seems like a very scenic area which definately mandates some extended exploration, some day.

And how are the Pirelli tires holding up, being 21" and a somewhat lower profile compared to the Michelin's you had on the 4S? What would you say are the main differences between 20" and 21"s on the Taycan?

Enjoy your trip and keep the reports coming

 

[tigerbalm]

And how are the Pirelli tires holding up, being 21" and a somewhat lower profile compared to the Michelin's you had on the 4S? What would you say are the main differences between 20" and 21"s on the Taycan?

The biggest difference really is the lower efficiency of the 21" wheel & Pirelli combination. Though we're getting excellent consumption figures here in the Swiss mountains – they probably take about 50 km range off the car.

If we were very range conscious – we'd consider a "summer long range" wheel set and get the 20" wheels and excellent Michelin Pilot Sport 4 NF0's. But honestly, with the quality of the charging networks in Europe – we don't think its necessary.

The Pirelli P Zero NF0's we have on the car from the factory – feel like they are in their element on this trip. The dry hot weather is providing tons of grip. When pushing around corners – we get a little bit of tyre squeal but very rarely does traction control kick-in.

The wider contact patch with the road feels like it's doing its job – sticking to the road surface – while 600+ hp/450+ kW is being unleashed from the Taycan's two motors.

We haven't checked wear yet on the trip – other than a quick glance at the fronts when park – but it appears to have plenty of thread left on them.

Right now – today – if we had to replace our tyres – we'd get the Pirelli's again. That might change depending on how wear turns out – but its the best answer we can give right now.

 

[tigerbalm]

Day 6: Mountain passes near Andermatt (Switzerland)

Today is driving just for the pleasure of it. Andermatt is so well located for mountain passes – that we're spoilt for choice. We're going for – in order: St Gotthard Pass, Furka Pass, Grimsel Pass and finally the always incredible Susten Pass to finish the day.

Our car is dropped up to reception with a full charge. With all regenerative braking opportunities today – we'll have plenty of energy for the entire day.



As we want to climb up the Tramola – we start the day dropping down to the Gotthard Tunnel again and take it to the other side.

We quickly find the Tramola (our first time here we found it really tricky!) – it is still relatively early in the morning and we have it to ourselves.

It's only from the top looking back down where we drove that you fully appreciate it.



We attach GoPro camera's to our car to capture the experience – and our tyres working hard on the cobbled surface.





We stop for lunch at a busy cafe the other side of Furka Pass – among the many Porsche, Lamborghini's and Aston Martin's that are out today.

It's always fun to look ahead to your next climb.

There are chargers on many of the remote passes now – though we have no need for them today.

We continue from pass to pass – often dropping down 1000 meters between them – giving our battery a much appreciated re-charge.

We stop frequently – not only to admire the scenery – but also the many nice cars passing by.





It was great to see many brightly coloured PTS Porsche's on the road.

Every meter of today's journey was beautiful – we appreciated the many forest's between the passes.

And the impressive Swiss engineering evident everywhere the landscape didn't co-operate.

We arrive back to our hotel with a healthy 33% state-of-charge – adding 15% along the way via re-gen.

There is some nice metal at our hotel tonight – much of it right under our balcony – and all of it from Norway. The reg number on the Porsche GT3 RS is an impressive get!

The days charging stats

Location	Start SOC %	End SOC %	kWh added	Cost	Duration	Ambient Temp	Battery Temp	Charger Type	Network
The Chedi Andermatt	33%	100%	56.1	€0.00	3 hours 21 mins	25	30	AC 22 kW	Free

Today we did 205 km over 5:49 hours, with an average speed of 36 km/h, consuming 26.1 kWh/100km.

 

[Porsche-Guru]

Day 6: Mountain passes near Andermatt (Switzerland)

St Gotthard Pass, Furka Pass, Grimsel Pass and finally the always incredible Susten Pass ....

Oh my... this brings back memories of a few years back.. We did all these passes but just immediately after winter.... just a few days after when these passes reopen.

There was abundant snow on both sides as well on the mountains... a very different view.

I have done these Swiss ones and the Stelvio - both in summers and just after winter.
I think one of the best driving experiences in the world...

Photos reminded me of so much of my own trips, a big thank you for sharing.

 

[mikezhang31]

I did a similar driving trip through the Stelvio in a rental C class last year, and it was amazing. Only wish I was in the Porsche instead lol

 

[ciaranob]

Man, the owner of the GTC4 Lusso was playing it dicey with that parking pole !!

As an (obvious!) fan of sport wagons, have to say I always lusted after that Ferrari but TBH suspect the CT might kick its butt today! I'd still take one if given though

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