As U.S. deliveries of the 2021 Porsche Taycan base models start 2021 rear-wheel-drive models reach dealerships this week.
According to Porsche Cars North America—and posted on its consumer site and build tools Thursday—the base, rear-wheel-drive Taycan has EPA range ratings of 200 miles with the 79.2-kwh Performance Battery, or 225 miles with the 93.4-kwh Performance Battery Plus.
That’s not significantly different from the ratings of the Taycan 4S that’s already on sale: 199 miles with the smaller battery and 227 miles with the larger one.
2020 Porsche Taycan 4S first drive - Los Angeles, CA
Porsche reports that in independent testing conducted by AMCI in Oceanside, California—with likely rather mild weather—those two models returned 252 miles and 282 miles, respectively. At the same time, it tested the Taycan 4S with both battery pack sizes and saw 247 and 272 miles, respectively.
There’s more to the story, though, and real-world owners seeking to eke out the most range are likely to do even better. Why? Partly, it's that the EPA tests with a “key-up cycle” in whatever mode the car defaults to. That would be the Taycan’s Normal mode, which emphasizes the rear motor in dual-motor models. But if drivers select Range mode, the Taycan prioritizes the front motor and its smaller, more efficient inverter at relaxed, low-load highway speeds—effectively becoming a front-wheel-drive car.
2021 Porsche Taycan rear-wheel drive
This corresponds to our experiences with the Taycan. Simply put, it can do much better than the range ratings suggest. It’s yet another example of the multitude of details like driving modes, test conditions, and adjustment factors that can affect range—and underscore that the EPA ratings are, after all, just an estimate.
The base Taycan starts at $81,250 with the Performance Battery, or $87,030 with the Performance Battery Plus. With eligibility for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, that drops the entry price to $73,750.
