CAR COMPARISONS: 2022 Porsche Taycan Buyers Guide

Here’s our guide to navigating the variants and options on offer with the 2022 Drive Car of the Year Best Electric Vehicle over $100,000

Porsche’s renowned engineering excellence comes to the forefront in the all-electric Taycan.

It’s a car that embodies the emotional sense of what a Porsche should be, combined with the fututre-forward approach for what an electric car can be.

Available in two body-styles and and a selection of drive, power, battery and styling configurations, there’s sure to be a Taycan for every taste, providing you have a budget to match.

Buying a Porsche is a personal experience, and option prices typically add another 25 per cent to the base price, but in doing this you can make the car ‘yours’ to the most specific detail. And for a brand which trades as much in technical prowess as it does in brand cache, that’s what it is all about.

While it would be easy to suggest that the range-topping Taycan Turbo S, with its 560kW/1050Nm all-wheel-drive output is the ‘best’, we feel that $340k price tag, before options, distracts from what is an exceptional car even at its range entry point.

To that end, we feel the best Porsche Taycan is surprisingly ‘realistic’ in its range positioning.

OUR PICK

Our pick: Porsche Taycan (RWD, single motor, 79kWh battery, from $156,300 before options and on-road costs)

Yes, we think the best Taycan you can buy is the newly launched ‘non-S’ entry level model.

All the key elements are here. The impressive 79kWh battery pack and 800-volt charging system (11kW AC / 225kW DC) that offer 300kW output and 369km range.

There are plenty of creature comforts including power, memory front seats, Porsche Connect telemetry connectivity, adaptive cruise control and a choice of interior trim colours for no additional cost.

Porsche even bundle in a ChargeFox public charging account and a home-based wall charger into thr driveaway price.

Being a Porsche though, don’t expect not to tick any option boxes.

We’ve defined a specification that we feel gives you all the ‘premium’ features you expect from a car like the Taycan, all while keeping the price below the starting point for the next model in the lineup, the Taycan 4S.

Starting with styling, we’ve chosen Dolomite Silver Metallic paint ($2300) and the 19-inch Taycan S Aero wheels ($2400) to give the car a much sharper look. Those basic wheels don’t do it any favours.

For a smarter-looking interior, we’ve chosen the Black and Chalk Beige two-tone trim for no extra cost, and only added front seat heaters ($910). To enhance the car’s appeal as a Porsche, we’ve included Sport Chrono (you have to) for $2340 and the $4540 PASM adaptive air suspension package.

This adds up to $16,090 (just 10 per cent extra, surely a record!) , for $172,390 plus on-road costs. A Taycan 4S starts from $189,800.

Check out this configuration on the Porsche Taycan configurator here.

However, if it was me on the end of the chequebook, I’d be hard pressed to ignore the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo wagon which starts from $176,600, an 11 per cent (or $20k) premium over the Taycan ‘non-S’ but with the addition of all-wheel drive and the super-cool wagon styling.

Here, sadly, the options are a little more tempting to tick and the lovely Gentian Blue paint ($2300), 20-inch Turbo Aero wheels ($5270), roof rails ($1220) which must be aligned to the panoramic roof ($3370), and requisite interior comforts (heated seats $910, ambient lighting $890) start to push that average of ‘additional 25 per cent in options’ well into the ‘True’ state.

I’ve added the cool passenger LCD display ($2150) and BOSE sound system ($2840) as well, for a total of $24,890 (15 per cent extra), and a before options price of just over $200k. Lucky it’s not real money.