Porsche to release the Taycan an all-electric sports car by the end of this year

Porsche will release its first all-electric sports car next year. The arrival of the new EV, the Taycan, is eagerly awaited even by Tesla owners. The Taycan is to come onto the market at the end of 2019.

CEO of Porsche, Klaus Zellmer said that if everyone who has posted a deposit to pre-order the Taycan follows through and buys it, the car will be sold out in the first year of production. Zellmer noted that more than half of those who have pre-orders have not owned or do not own a Porsche. He claimed that many are coming from Tesla.

CNET quotes Zellmer as saying: "More than half of the people that are signing up for the Taycan have not owned or do not own a Porsche," he said. So what do they drive? "Typically, if we look at our source of business, people coming from other brands, it's Audi, BMW, or Mercedes. The no. 1 brand now is Tesla. That's pretty interesting, to see that people that were curious about the Tesla for very good reasons obviously don't stop being curious."

Zellmer did not say how many people had made deposits or how many units of the Taycan will be produced this year and afterwards. Previously Porsche said that it planned to make about 20,000 Taycans per year. However, in November a Porsche official said that due to demand Porsche would increase production but he did not say by how much.

The Taycan

The Taycan is expected to have three models including an all-wheel drive version. The base model is called the Taycan, the Taycan 45 is the all-wheel drive version, and the Taycan Turbo is the top model. It is called Turbo even though that is usually reserved for internal combustion engines. Taycan roughly translates into "lively young horse".

Some see the Taycan as a threat to Tesla which so far has dominated the luxury EV market. The Volkswagen Group that owns Porsche has invested over a billion dollars in the car.

CNET reports that the Taycan will have a huge 600 horsepower and a range of more than 300 miles. The top-of-the line Turbo is expected to have a price tag of more than $130,000.

Previously published in Digital Journal