Or was that “Taycan Cross Turismo Turbo S”? I ‘m fairly certain the title’s correct, but it really doesn’t matter. All you have to know is that having driven all manner of manic Porsches through the years, from the 911 Turbo through to the Panamera Hybrid Turbo S and on to the GT2, the full-EV Taycan Cross Turismo delivers on what makes a Porsche a Porsche, EV or no.
It starts with the styling, which, in Cross Turismo form, is more wagon-like that Taycans previous and gets all manner of “off-roady” type body cladding. You’ll find it ‘round the wheelarches, the rocker panels and on the front clip, and it gets taken up yet another notch here thanks to a package that adds features like “fins” around the wheels to better keep pebbles from flying uncontrollably off the car. I think. Either way, they look sweet in like a rally car sort of way.
Otherwise, the more wagon-like styling means more rear headroom and more storage in the trunk (the front trunk, or “frunk” is sized the same as it is on the Taycan sedan) and just a better look overall. Like its Panamera Sport Turismo sibling, it’s my assertion the Taycan should have always been of the wagon or “shooting brake” variety; it just suits the mission so much better.
Other neat-o adds include suspension that provides up to 2 cm more travel and can be raised and lowered with the push of a button, as well as a “Gravel” mode that locks the differentials and provides more confident progress over loose terrain.
And of course, there’s all the standard Taycan fare like fully digitized gauge and infotainment displays, a display for the front passenger and the ability to return a charge of 5 per cent to 80 percent in about 20 minutes of a DC fast charger. The car, by the way, can be charged via ports on either side, though only the passenger side port gets the fast charge connection.
You’re going to want that fast charge time, because it allows you to make better use of the very fast acceleration times more regularly because you needn’t be as concerned about slow charge time as you burn through your juice on launch controlled starts.
Yes, that’s right: this glorified family wagon (OK, that’s a stretch) features a launch control mode that when used, provides a whopping, stratospheric 750 horsepower. Activated by simply selecting “Sport” or “Sport Plus”, holding the brake and flooring the throttle until you hear a “beep”, launch controlled starts have you hurtling down the road to the tune of 0-96 km/h in, yeah, about 2.7 seconds as you feel the skin on your face being pulled tightly against your skull.
Which is only part of the fun.
There’s an EV motor on each axle as well as four-corner self-levelling air suspension so the Taycan Cross Turismo drives and handles a lot lighter than it is. Put simply, it handles like a Porsche.