Porsche Taycan 4s: The Real Question: Does It Leave The Driver Amped?

If you were taking bets on which manufacturer would not just dip a toe, but dive headfirst into the world of electric vehicles then you would have got long odds with Porsche. Yet here we are with the first Australian drive of the Porsche Taycan 4S.

- Scott Newman

It provides the first real competition to Tesla in the zero-emissions luxury performance market, claiming to offer rocketship acceleration, equally brisk charging times, a long-range and a clear environmental conscience. The numbers suggest that even this ‘entry level’ Taycan achieves those aims, but can this silent, 2220kg four-door offer the sort of driving engagement Porsche is renowned for?

As mentioned, the 4S kicks off the Australian Taycan range, sitting below the more powerful Turbo and Turbo S, but ‘base model’ isn’t an appropriate adjective of a car that starts at $190,400. Big money, but also $100K less than Porsche’s similarly sized, petrol-powered sedan, the Panamera 4S.

Still, that initial figure is easily enlarged, our test car wearing more than $40,000 of options to lift the price tag to $230,530 before on-roads. The most important of these and the biggest ticket item is the $11,590 Performance Battery Plus, which improves both range and performance, but we’ll return to that shortly.

None of the two solid or seven metallic paint colours attract an added charge, even the stunning Frozen Blue pictured here. Externally, our test car wears Taycan Turbo rims ($1150), LED matrix headlights ($4610), a panoramic glass roof ($3370) and courtesy lights ($600). Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but we think the Taycan looks fantastic, more sculpted and athletic than the Panamera with strong hints of 911, especially at the rear.