Blog Porsche Announces Cheaper Version of the All-Electric Taycan

Porsche has announced a lower-priced version of its highly-anticipated Taycan electric vehicle, which could further entice consumers to stray from Tesla.

The model is called the Porsche Taycan 4S, which will carry the same battery size as the Taycan Turbo and Turbo S that were previously announced. 

The 4S will be offered with the “Performance Battery” (390 kW) for $103,800 and the “Performance Battery Plus” (420 kW) for $110,380. Compare that with the $150,900 Taycan Turbo and $185,000 Taycan Turbo S, the 4S becomes accessible to a larger swath of consumers.

The two versions of the Taycan 4S will pack 522 horsepower and 563 horsepower, respectively. The Taycan 4S will have a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph.

The Taycan 4S is scheduled to arrive in U.S. dealerships in spring 2020.

 

[malcolm]

"Cheaper" in Porsche-world is a relatively term

But great to see some sort of BEV competition. Finally.

 

[rwjr44]

I wonder what the ranges are?

 

[Eno Deb]

I wonder what the ranges are?

According to their web site:

- Standard battery: 333-407 km WLTP combined
- "Plus" battery: 386-463 km WLTP combined

The variant with the "Plus" battery is actually the Taycan with the longest range so far.

 

[Brando]

Fully loaded Model S ~$115,000
from above article:

The 4S [Taycan] will be offered with the “Performance Battery” (390 kW) for $103,800 and the “Performance Battery Plus” (420 kW) for $110,380. Compare that with the $150,900 Taycan Turbo and $185,000 Taycan Turbo S, the 4S becomes accessible to a larger swath of consumers.

Model S is quicker, longer range, more space, 5 vs 4 passenger - but of course people who can spend over 100k ...
It will be interesting to me to see how many they sell (or even make).

 

[AmpedRealtor]

This will definitely eat into Model S sales. Tesla has inferior build quality, poor initial quality as rated by Consumer Reports and the hundreds of complaints in this forum, poor battery/electric design (see this #batterygate and #chargegate thread for what will eventually happen), lacks true sport suspension, and has an interior only a mother could love. Tesla is pretty freaked out by Porsche as witnessed by Tesla rushing an experimental powertrain to Nurburgring right after the Porsche Taycan announcement. The Nurburgring Tesla broke down and needed to be towed.

• If you want to participate in an experiment by a company more interested in video games and fart noises than cars, buy Tesla.
• If you don't mind holding 45 minutes to talk with a human and waiting 30 days for a service appointment, buy Tesla.
• If you prefer Uber credits to a loaner car after waiting 30 days for a service appointment, buy Tesla.
• If you love having your car in service 5-10 times per year for issues nobody else has to worry about, buy Tesla.
• If you like having features removed from your vehicle without your permission, including battery capacity and acceleration, buy Tesla.
• If you like crappy, beta software full of bugs, buy Tesla.
• If you want a CEO's personal problems to affect your ownership experience, buy Tesla.

Buy Porsche if you want a well built car that actually performs as advertised and offers the fit/finish expected at the price. At least Porsche knows how to properly build and service a car and take care of its customers.

 

[rafacq]

This will definitely eat into Model S sales. Tesla has inferior build quality, poor initial quality as rated by Consumer Reports and the hundreds of complaints in this forum, poor battery/electric design (see this #batterygate and #chargegate thread for what will eventually happen), lacks true sport suspension, and has an interior only a mother could love.

Sadly, for every negative post there are hundreds that are very pleased with their Tesla’s. In my experience...

• If you want to participate in an experiment by a company more interested in video games and fart noises than cars, buy Tesla.
  I am sure if you compare the amount of effort that goes into the “Easter eggs” vs the autopilot and FSD efforts, I am certain the games/farts was minimal! But they are still lots of fun!
  
  
• If you don't mind holding 45 minutes to talk with a human and waiting 30 days for a service appointment, buy Tesla.
  Simply use the app to make your appointment. Instant. Or simply drive to a service center if issue requires prompt attention. My FOB died once. Opened a ticket with my app, Tesla came to my house to fix it! 5 days wait. That is service!!!
  
  
• If you love having your car in service 5-10 times per year for issues nobody else has to worry about, buy Tesla.
  Many have not need to bring the car for service at all in one year.
  
  
• If you like having features removed from your vehicle without your permission, including battery capacity and acceleration, buy Tesla.
  I would say the opposite! How many model 3 owners woke up a couple of months ago to find the latest over the air update added more range to their cars. So far, nothing has been removed from my Model S.
  
  
• If you like crappy, beta software full of bugs, buy Tesla.
  FAKE NEWS... My Model S has not suffered by any software issues that a simple reboot has not resolved. I am sure this is true for thousands of owners. Only those who have experienced issues are usually the ones who post.
  
  Overall, Tesla would not have sold nearly 100,000 last quarter if all your statements were true. And the numbers will keep growing, just wait and see.

So, different strokes for different folks. If you prefer to wait and buy a Porsche, please, you have all the right to. Trying to put down an American Tesla is... oh well, I will leave it at that.

PD. My friend’s Porsche has had to go in for service plenty of times!

 

[ztuner]

i have put a total of 9 k miles in 6 months between my 2 model cars. No service related issues. i did not get my spoiler when i picked up my first car. Tesla service stopped by and installed it in my house and looked over the car free of charge. My first order took 10 min online, second one was for a instock car so that was different. My first delivery from tesla took 15 min, second one took 5 min because i had no questions.

I love Porsches etc but what i stated above will never happen with a conventional dealer.

 

[AdamMacDon]

This will definitely eat into Model S sales. Tesla has inferior build quality, poor initial quality as rated by Consumer Reports and the hundreds of complaints in this forum, poor battery/electric design (see this #batterygate and #chargegate thread for what will eventually happen), lacks true sport suspension, and has an interior only a mother could love. Tesla is pretty freaked out by Porsche as witnessed by Tesla rushing an experimental powertrain to Nurburgring right after the Porsche Taycan announcement. The Nurburgring Tesla broke down and needed to be towed.

• If you want to participate in an experiment by a company more interested in video games and fart noises than cars, buy Tesla.
• If you don't mind holding 45 minutes to talk with a human and waiting 30 days for a service appointment, buy Tesla.
• If you prefer Uber credits to a loaner car after waiting 30 days for a service appointment, buy Tesla.
• If you love having your car in service 5-10 times per year for issues nobody else has to worry about, buy Tesla.
• If you like having features removed from your vehicle without your permission, including battery capacity and acceleration, buy Tesla.
• If you like crappy, beta software full of bugs, buy Tesla.
• If you want a CEO's personal problems to affect your ownership experience, buy Tesla.

Buy Porsche if you want a well built car that actually performs as advertised and offers the fit/finish expected at the price. At least Porsche knows how to properly build and service a car and take care of its customers.

Yeah the biggest issues you mentioned are the interior build quality and customer service. I wanted to buy a Model S, but the interior quality versus the Model 3 is staggeringly bad, nevermind other car manufacturers. My old Crown Victoria from 2007 had a better interior than a $100k "luxury" sedan that is supposedly competing with the BMW 5 series and Mercedes E class. You'd be hard pressed to find a conventional car manufacturer that would have a worse interior in it's luxury sedan segment than it's entry level offering.

Then on to the customer service, the new "salesmen free" model is interesting and nice in theory. The application though, has been somewhat of a letdown. I was pretty much told I could either get an SR+ or a Performance Model 3, absolutely zero interest was shown at the time in my request to purchase a LR RWD model, I was straight up told they wouldn't sell one to me. In the end I was quickly ushered into putting in an order on an iPad, a process which they finished in 20 minutes or less and then I was told I'd be contacted in a few weeks to schedule delivery. It actually took almost 3 months, after which they texted me saying the car would be delivered in 2 days in a city that is 200kms away and I need to take a ferry to get to. Thankfully I work for myself, so it wasn't a big issue, but not everyone can drop everything to get a car on a Thursday. Overall the process was frustrating and annoying compared to even a "low end" dealership like Toyota, nevermind the European luxury brands. The insult to injury was my car came with the "Premium Interior" option I had wanted to buy (but wasn't allowed), but Tesla clawed that back 100 kms or so later. I dread the day I need to take this thing in for service, and I'll be doing the annual services myself.

 

[ztuner]

What annual service ?

 

[AdamMacDon]

What annual service ?

Tesla recommends an annual service, like any machine it needs to be taken care of. If you haven't already, read your owners manual for more info. The first year for the Model 3 is fairly simple, rotate tires, swap wiper blades, check fluid levels, and clean brakes if required. Here's a good video on it:

 

[ztuner]

Tesla recommends an annual service, like any machine it needs to be taken care of. If you haven't already, read your owners manual for more info. The first year for the Model 3 is fairly simple, rotate tires, swap wiper blades, check fluid levels, and clean brakes if required. Here's a good video on it:

LoL thats not real service. i do that on my ice cars every oil change except wiper blades. i do tht when they need change.

 

[TechOps]

Well, that didn't take long.. I guess the Taycan (turbo) demand is lower than expected.

 

[Obsoletion]

The one thing that keeps me with Tesla that nobody else has is the supercharger network. I can see many of the negatives about interior quality, but to me, that is 2nd or 3rd to safety and usefulness. I just ordered my 3rd after my wife was is a very serious accident with our first Model S (2014). She and our daughter walked away with a couple of bruises from a high-speed collision that in any other car would have meant very serious injuries.

There is always room for improvement, I don't think anyone will argue that and I think Elon and Tesla have done so much for the EV market and for the safety of my family. I am sticking with Telsa.

 

[laurynas]

I'm not advocating Tesla, but we are talking about first full electric Porche car. How can people be so sure if it will be successful product? How many are already on the road and who knows what will happen in first 100.000 kilometers?

 

[Uncle Paul]

Nice thing about a unreleased car (like the Taycan) is that it is a perfect car. Nobody has discovered the flaws yet. Everyone hopes it will be perfect, but they never are.

Wait for the car to be out for 6 minths, and see what the owners begin to complain about. Then do your comparisons to Tesla.

Porsche has a reputation for great handling sporty cars, but they also tend to each have their own individual problems.

 

[Magellan55]

Still waiting to see how often Porsche requires you to come in for service. They have to throw their dealer network a bone on these. Gotta inspect the battery terminals?

I'm surprised the 4S is not closer to $120K, and still has the 2-speed tranny. That's a big price gap to the turbo. I figured that tranny was what made the "turbo" different. So we can expect the base / single motor 2WD Taycan to be ~$80K. Nice.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Interesting how the two speed transmission is only on the rear Porsche motor. As it changes ratios, the amount of torque applied to the front or rear of the car will drastically change. Most likely really upsetting accelerating through a corner. Gonna be a handful.

Had a 911 Turbo that had this foolish stuff. At start it was sluggish and clumsy. As the revs built the power came on in a frantic rush. Rear tires would spin and the rear would step out towards the curb while the front would remain planted. While it was a fun and exciting car to drive, it was dangerous as hell.

Lots of unknowns on this car

 

[240W]

Glad this is coming out, will push for better products in the market for consumers.

We’ve seen established luxury brands (with ipace and etron) doesn’t equate to automatic success. Because even with build quality, uninspiring interior, customer service, etc, Tesla still has the edge.

 

[SammichLover]

According to their web site:

- Standard battery: 333-407 km WLTP combined
- "Plus" battery: 386-463 km WLTP combined

The variant with the "Plus" battery is actually the Taycan with the longest range so far.

So in EPA terms roughly 195 miles and 230 miles, respectively. Before you get your lead foot on.

Ouch.