2024 Porsche Taycan - styling tweaks

The class-defining electric car from Stuttgart has already sold 150,000 examples worldwide since it launched in 2020 and Porsche knows that the UK is a key market for the model. How many Taycan have you seen this week? I've lost count too. So as one of the most desirable electric cars which is renowned for being both tax and driver-friendly, the facelifted model has quite a high bar to raise.

The facelifted Taycan will once again be available as a saloon, Sport Turismo estate and a Cross Turismo crossover estate - think along the lines of an Audi Allroad. Visually, it still looks like a Taycan which is no bad thing to my eyes. The shape is still mightily good looking with flared front and rear arches matching up nicely with the curved roofline and gentle ducktail boot lid on the saloon.

The Turismo versions have to be among the best-looking estates currently on sale, with the extended roofline accentuating the wide hips and rear arches even more so than on the saloon. The front end is unmistakably Porsche with the four-dot LED running light signature shining out of the smaller headlight clusters which feature matrix adaptive lights as standard on all models. The rear lighting still has the full-width light bar and circuit board-inspired detailing within the cluster, but the PORSCHE wordmark can be optionally illuminated.

I'm yet to decide whether that's cool or cheesy but it will help to differentiate the Taycan from other cars with full-width single light bars like the Lotus Eletre. At each corner, new wheel designs are available and these range from 19-21" in size. Back at the front, the bumper has been reprofiled to have sharper edges and to help separate the outer air inlet from the headlight cluster. This means the teardrop shape that connected these two elements has gone, which, in my opinion, is a good thing. 

You may have read in the last few months that Porsche has been working to give the Turbo models greater differentiation from the "regular" model range and the new Taycan is the first place to see this in action. A unique front end features concave wedge inserts in the front bumper that feed air into the outer air intakes and give the car a slightly more aggressive look. This is married to a re-profiled rear bumper with a pair of (imitation) air outlets and an enlarged rear diffuser. Trim and wheels can come in a Turbo-specific dark grey colour called Turbonite which further separates the top models from the rest of the range.

2024 Porsche Taycan - increased range and performance

As before, there are two battery options available with the standard unit having an 82.3 kWh usable capacity, up from 71 kWh in the pre-facelift model. A second battery known as the 'Performance Battery Plus' is available which boosts usable capacity up to 97 kWh, up from 83.7 kWh before. This battery is optional for the Taycan and Taycan 4S and standard on all Cross Turismo, Turbo and Turbo S variants. With the optional battery fitted, the range rises from 367 miles - which puts it on par with a Mercedes-Benz EQE350 - up to a claimed 422 miles.

Across the board, Porsche is claiming greater motor and driving efficiencies with the new model thanks to an updated inverter (this takes DC from the battery and flips it to AC to feed to the motor and vice versa), a new heat pump and an updated thermal management system and an all-wheel drive system that is more willing to switch off the front motor to save power when cruising. Reduced overall weight is highlighted too with a new Taycan weighing up to 15 kg less than its predecessor and the new model featuring a smaller, lighter rear motor that puts out more power than before.

The single-motor Taycan now puts 402 bhp and 410 nm torque to the road and can head from 0-62 mph in 4.8 seconds and onwards to a top speed of 143 mph. Those performance stats are nothing to be sniffed at, but the real headlines are to be found with the updated Turbo S which was never considered a slouch by anyone. An overboost function is available to temporarily turn the motors up to 11 and with this activated, the Turbo S delivers a staggering 939 bhp and 1,110 nm to all four wheels.

No, that's not a typo. This means that an electric five-seat saloon can blast from 0-62 seconds in 2.4 seconds - which is quicker than a Bugatti Veyron. After 5.2 seconds, 99 mph flashes by, followed by 124 mph just 2.5 seconds later. Porsche says that the Taycan Turbo S will complete the quarter mile in just 9.9 seconds. I don't think it'll take very long for it to reach its top speed of 162 mph either.

2024 Porsche Taycan - faster charging

Acceleration isn't the only stat which has got quicker; charging has improved too. What was among the fastest charging EVs on the road has surely now become the fastest with all models able to accept electricity at up to 320 kW DC.

That means a 10-80% charge in just 18 minutes when using a powerful enough charger like those found at IONITY or GRIDSERVE Electric Forecourts and Super Hubs. If using a 150 kW charger, the job will be done in 33 minutes. The only place where charging could be considered slow is using a home wall box where I estimate a flat to full charge (with the larger battery fitted, as I suspect nearly all UK-bound Taycan will be) would take in the region of 13 hours.

2024 Porsche Taycan - revised interior and in-car tech

There is more to the Taycan than its concept car-esque looks, motors and batteries though; the interior has been updated as part of the facelift and new standard equipment has been added to the mix with all models gaining ambient lighting, a wireless phone charger, reversing camera and a steering wheel with the drive select dial as standard.

The overall cabin layout is familiar with a large curved and customisable driver's display, a high-level central infotainment touchscreen and a lower-level screen for air conditioning and heating controls.

As before, a passenger display is an option and this screen will appear invisible to the driver so as not to cause any distraction. New leather-free upholstery options are available and, according to Autogefühl's first look video on YouTube, are more comfortable due to being less firm and more adaptable to the body shape of the driver.

A feature I love the look of is the sunroof with Variable Light Control which allows you to change the translucency of the roof in nine stages, instantly. Is having liquid crystal film on the glass more expensive and complicated than having a fabric roller blind? Yes. Does that matter? No.

Perhaps the biggest tech advancement is the upgraded Apple CarPlay which makes its debut on the facelifted Taycan. We are all familiar with how CarPlay allows us to use Waze to navigate and Spotify to listen to music but there has always been a degree of separation between CarPlay and the factory infotainment system, but no more. When registered with the My Porsche app, CarPlay can influence car features like air conditioning, get real-time data from the car like state of charge and integrate this into the route planning that you would do on Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps, etc. and even feed navigation information from the third-party app into the driver's display. 

2024 Porsche Taycan - chassis revisions

That's enough tech for now though. The chassis has been tuned and refined with all models gaining adjustable air suspension as standard which will certainly improve comfort; at high speeds, this can drop the car by 22mm to improve aerodynamic efficiency.

Optionally available is the Active Ride system which individually controls each wheel's suspension to rapidly react to the road surface or driving style. It can counteract the pitching of acceleration and deceleration and tilt into corners like a Pendolino tilting train. Having experienced systems like this before, it can take some getting used to but the additional stability and confidence this inspires in the car cannot be understated. The party trick has to be its ability to rapidly raise the car when the doors are opened, meaning easier entry and exits and less having to fold oneself into a low-slung car.

2024 Porsche Taycan - pricing

Pricing begins at £86,500 for a rear-wheel drive Taycan saloon and rises to £161,400 for a Turbo S...before options. The configurator and order books are open for business and you can order a brand new Taycan now with deliveries expected to begin in the spring.

At the moment, there is no GTS in the line-up but we can expect this to return in the not-too-distant future for the saloon and Sport Turismo models. There is no word yet of the hardcore "Turbo GT" model which has been spotted testing with a Volkswagen TDI badge on its boot below an enormous rear wing. A prototype recently lapped the Nürburgring in just 7 minutes and 7.55 seconds. Expect to see this officially announced later this year.

Audi e-tron updates?

At this point, I must mention that the Porsche Taycan has a twin called the Audi e-tron GT which shares its platform and powertrains. Camouflaged prototypes for an e-tron GT facelift have been testing for a little while now, so if you squint a little bit and take a few horsepower away from the stats of the Turbo, you may have just learned a thing or two about the incoming Audi too.

In 2020, the Taycan proved that when Porsche makes cars, they are Porsches first and foremost, regardless of powertrain. It set the bar, and with the improvements in tech, spec, performance and range, the 2024 Taycan facelift may have just raised it again. 

Statistics: Porsche Taycan Turbo S saloon

Drivetrain: Twin electric motor, all-wheel drive

Transmission: single-speed (front motor), two-speed (rear motor) automatic

Battery: Lithium-ion, 97 kWh (usable)

WLTP range: up to 393 miles

Rapid charge time: 18 minutes (10-80% at up to 320 kW DC)

Output: 939 bhp, 1,110 nm

Acceleration - 0-62 mph: 2.4 seconds*

Acceleration - 0-99 mph: 5.2 seconds*

Acceleration - 0-124 mph: 7.7 seconds*

Quarter mile: 9.9 seconds

Top speed: 162 mph

On sale: Now

Price: From £161,400 OTR

*(Acceleration/output stats are with overboost/launch control active)