Porsche Taycan Turbo - EVs and the future of automobiles

[RAZRBAKK]

Today I was fortunate enough to drive a Porsche Taycan Turbo S. For those not in the know, it is an extremely powerful all-electric sedan, with an MSRP somewhere around the price of a nice bungalow.

It started with a demo in the passenger seat. The ride was very comfortable, the seats were ergonomic, yet very stiff which didn't make sense until the driver stood on the gas pedal, and the g-force slammed my body into the it like some crazy roller coaster. You may not come back out of a a softer seat.

Later I was put in the driver seat and walked through the launch control process. Once activated, I nervously lifted my left foot off the brake, my right foot absolutely buried into the accelerator. The official number is 0-60 in 3.0 seconds, but I truly cannot explain how fast this car feels. The way that a high horsepower, AWD electric car on good tires launches is unbelievable.

By the numbers it is 750 horsepower and 774 lb-ft of torque, which is technically less than a Tesla P100D, but from my research it seems the Porsche is still faster.

It is extremely unlikely that I would every be able to afford one of these cars, and I feel blessed to have experienced this.

I am a complete EV supporter now, and I actually look forward to more and more of them entering the market.

Anyone else have experience with EVs?

[Cdn_Cuda]

How was the turbo lag? Did they get it tuned out with the new power train?

[Chuck E Ducky]

I drove a Tesla Model S Plaid. My brother in law has one it’s Quick AF. To me it’s not a fun car but it’s quick. EV will continue to improve as technology advances I’m excited to see what the engineers come up with.

I’m curious how much radiation is put off by these things at speed. We spend a lot of time in our cars and don’t build houses next to power lines for a reason.

[Shaftski]

Power lines you are talking thousands of amps at several hundred thousand volts on unshielded, and in some cases, uninsulated lines. Nothing to contain the emissions.

If there was much to worry about with electric vehicles, the FCC would step right in and end the party fast. You don't mess with the FCC. Probably the one fed agency that doesn't play games.

[Jordan]

I'm curious as to who will be allowed to repair them. Will everyone follow Tesla's lead?

[Tarsun2]

it will most likely be similar to John Deere and the "right to repair" lawsuit.

electric is no joke but i still prefer being part of the car. the sounds, the feelings, shifting from one gear to another, the smell of gas, the vibrations, and generally all of it.

imagine a dish that tastes better than anything youve ever had; more flavor than anything you could ever dream of... the olny problem is that it was synthesized in a lab so it has no color (gray), no smell, served at room temp, no grill marks or sizzling sounds as the waiter brings out the dish.

even though my burger is flawed and a synthetic burger is better on paper, what would you prefer. Especially once you get used to the speed. i mean taste.


look at diamonds for instance.
moissanite does everything a diamond does but better; yet people (by large) still prefer the classic diamond, even though it its flawed.

[Jordan]

Diamond preference is all about marketing... deBeers knows what they're doing.

[RAZRBAKK]

How was the turbo lag? Did they get it tuned out with the new power train?

The naming system is definitely a bit weird, but I think they're just trying to keep it in line with previous porsche name structure.

I drove a Tesla Model S Plaid. My brother in law has one it’s Quick AF. To me it’s not a fun car but it’s quick. EV will continue to improve as technology advances I’m excited to see what the engineers come up with.

I’m curious how much radiation is put off by these things at speed. We spend a lot of time in our cars and don’t build houses next to power lines for a reason.

The thing that really made this car fun is just how well it handles. Like it ways as much as an F-150 but I was throwing it around like my old Celica.

I'm curious as to who will be allowed to repair them. Will everyone follow Tesla's lead?

I am curious about this as well.

it will most likely be similar to John Deere and the "right to repair" lawsuit.

electric is no joke but i still prefer being part of the car. the sounds, the feelings, shifting from one gear to another, the smell of gas, the vibrations, and generally all of it.

imagine a dish that tastes better than anything youve ever had; more flavor than anything you could ever dream of... the olny problem is that it was synthesized in a lab so it has no color (gray), no smell, served at room temp, no grill marks or sizzling sounds as the waiter brings out the dish.

even though my burger is flawed and a synthetic burger is better on paper, what would you prefer. Especially once you get used to the speed. i mean taste.


look at diamonds for instance.
moissanite does everything a diamond does but better; yet people (by large) still prefer the classic diamond, even though it its flawed.

To each his own. This particular car doesn't feel wrong, just different. The handling is unbelievable, and I actually believe this is the future of motorsport. You don't hear Gazoo Racing drivers complaining about the Toyota hybrid LMP1 cars, so I think the 'part of the car' experience is still there if the platform is designed for it.

[Tarsun2]

oh, dont get me wrong. EV is the future (weather its cleaner or not). i think the industry is moving that way.
i couldn't afford the car either way and dont really have a steak in the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARzujfRiQ3c

tesla vs turbo and NOS fox bodies.
Good ol' buys get butt hurt


take my comment with a grain of salt.
i still use an angel a1 and was engaged to someone who was bipolar. i like being miserable lol

[Paintslinger16]

40 years ago, I was using electric tugs in a paper mill to move large heavy reels of paper, so I know the capabilities of EV.
The problem is the infrastructure of charging stations and how we will use them, there is also a issue with us northern inhabitants, the battery power available will be down 50-60% under current technologies, some of this May be overcome with future technical advancements but there is so much to do to make this available to the masses and putting a govt timeline on it was not helpful in place of it just happening as the improvements came about.

[Cdn_Cuda]

In my work we cover a lot about the implementation and cost of charging systems for electric cars. Basically the long abs short of it is everyone in the province will be paying 5 cents per month on their Hydro bill to cover the cost of installing electrical chargers.

They made a huge mistake by allowing people free charging at charging stations and now they are looking at implementing various charging fees. The challenge is how to charge as some cars (newer, high end) charge faster at a higher rate than old cars (Nissan Leafs). So they need an equitable means to charge and Measurement Canada is lagging behind in approving proper measurement devices to charge for electricity used.

Long and short is the average taxpayer is going to be subsidizing not only charge station infrastructure but also the electricity used to charge the cars. And give a lot of electrical cars are expensive, luxury cars it means lower income people who cannot afford electrical cars.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not against electrical cars, but this is a major issue, at least in my province.

[Jordan]

Charger rates will have to be comparable to gas costs, too, or there'll be even more resistance to switching.

[vijil]

I understand the folks who prefer the noise/smells etc., but I liken it to DVDs vs Netflix or LPs vs Spotify. It really is nice to have the tangible old school stash of discs in a shelf, but for 99% of the population that's just novelty stuff. In the end you just want the movie to be awesome and the same is true for EVs. There will always be a core of folks who love the old stuff and that will never go away, though the fuels will go synth and therefore carbon neutral and wayyyy cleaner burning at some point. They wont be cheap though. It'll be enthusiast stuff.

Of course I love podcasts and music while driving. With an EV the cabin noise is a fraction of what it is with an ICE so the listening experience is much better. Engine noise is fun, but not every day.

If you want noise in an EV, check this tacky beast out:

In terms of charging, people forget that 90%+ of the time you're charging at home. You may never use a charging station. I live in a small town 30 minutes from a city and many people commute in EVs. There are model 3s and leafs everywhere. There is a charging station here, but it just sits there unused.

There has never been free charging here. https://charge.net.nz/ are the biggest provider by far, and they've always charged. The price works out about 25% cheaper than gas, last I did the math. Of course bear in mind that gas is $8 a gallon here, so YMMV

[Jordan]

US gallon, or Imperial?

It's almost $6 a gallon (Imp) here, I think that's pretty close to $8 Australian (does NZ use dolleridoos?). What's electricity cost you there? It's pretty expensive here, despite a number of factors that should mean It's not.

[vijil]

I have no idea what electricity costs here sorry, though I know my power bill is around $150 USD per month for a four bedroom house.

That's US gallon I think? Dunno. Whatever one most US gas stations use.

Power prices might just be a factor of competition. How many companies do you have to choose from? I have at least ten options, although they all buy wholesale from one big generation utility so the competition is mostly an illusion.

[Jordan]

I've got one electricity provider to choose from, despite having multiple forms of power generation in my province (nuclear, solar, wind, hydro).

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

I want a saturn ev2

[pghp8ntballer]

There is an interesting documentary about that car and it’s impact. It used to be on Amazon Prime. It was titled something like “What Killed the Electric Vehicle?”
It

[Shaftski]

Another part of needed infrastructure is the power grid itself. Has to be more reliable, more efficient, more secure, and we need more current handling capability.

When everyone comes home from work during a heat wave around here, my line voltage drops from 120V to 108-110V because everyone turns up their AC. Add vehicle, power tool, outdoor power equipment, powersports equipment charging to get everything green and we have a huge problem now. Look at California already in a heat wave.

But no one wants to pay the rate increases to cover that. Then there are all the issues of how to best generate electricity in a green way.

Car technology is moving right along but the US grid is a total dinosaur.

[RAZRBAKK]

Another part of needed infrastructure is the power grid itself. Has to be more reliable, more efficient, more secure, and we need more current handling capability.

When everyone comes home from work during a heat wave around here, my line voltage drops from 120V to 108-110V because everyone turns up their AC. Add vehicle, power tool, outdoor power equipment, powersports equipment charging to get everything green and we have a huge problem now. Look at California already in a heat wave.

But no one wants to pay the rate increases to cover that. Then there are all the issues of how to best generate electricity in a green way.

Car technology is moving right along but the US grid is a total dinosaur.

Yes and no. Most people wouldn't even need to charge their car every day. And many of them plug into a standard 120V at home to top up an 80% full battery already. The grid definitely needs some help, but not everyone is plugging into a fast charger at all times.

[vijil]

I used to work in power, and we were involved with a few of the biggest utilities in the US and Canada. We had people based over there.

Your grid... well, it's ok in places

In other places I wonder how you can keep the lights on at all. And what on earth the rationale is behind shutting down nuclear plants. You have serious infrastructure problems in lots of areas, especially in the US, to the extent that I don't see any short or long term mechanism to fix that. Someone tell me I'm wrong.

It seems the best option is the same thing we're doing here en masse - go solar, get batteries, get an EV that you can charge from your own sunlight in a pinch, get a rainwater tank, and minimise reliance on anything centralised (including household stuff that requires connection to server farms). That's not so much a doomsday prepper thing as it is a basic resilience thing. Storms and floods and etc. happen.

In fact, that's probably what makes the F150 Lightning so compelling!