Porsche was the first legacy luxury brand to create its own EV, here’s how it’s worked out so far

Porsche Taycan is widely regarded as the first EV made by a legacy luxury brand.

When it was unveiled back in 2019, the EV market pretty much started and ended with Tesla, with not much in between.

Several luxury automakers were already working on their EVs, but Porsche paved the way.

A few years and several records later, here’s how it’s worked out so far.

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Porsche Taycan is a luxury car that also happens to be an EV

The Taycan is a direct descendant of the Mission-E concept car unveiled in 2015.

In fact, the production version looks almost exactly the same as the concept that inspired it.

Back when it was launched, every Porsche dealer and spokesperson you talked to said different (clearly rehearsed) versions of the same thing.

‘This may be electric, but it’s still a Porsche above all else.’

It was corporate speak, obviously, but it was also Porsche’s way of telling its customers that Taycan was a serious luxury performance car, not just an EV with a hefty price tag.

This is because, apart from range-related issues, people often complain about two things when it comes to EVs: they’re too quiet, and they all feel samey-samey in terms of the way they deliver performance.

So, without a flat-six mounted right behind the seats, Porsche had to figure out a way to make the Taycan just as exciting, a in ‘Porsche-esque’ way, as a 911.

They pulled it off.

Taycan sold like hot cakes and, in 2021, it even outsold the Porsche 911.

Porsche’s first EV was a huge success for the company, but there’s a catch.

In 2024, for the first time, sales plummeted, indicating that the Taycan probably has a shorter shelf life than any other Porsche.

So after making the Taycan just as exciting as any other Porsche, the automaker needs to figure out a way to also turn it a collector’s car, because it clearly isn’t one – yet.

A record-breaking machine

Porsche Taycan beat several records, and even set up some new ones.

It was the first electric car to star in a climactic Hollywood car chase in Den of Thieves 2, and it set different records around the Nürburgring.

But it also set the Guinness World Record for the longest drift on ice.

More importantly, it set an important record for Porsche.

With a total power output of 1,020BHP, the Taycan Turbo GT Weissach is the most powerful Porsche ever built.