Baby boomer

Interesting car, this: the baby Taycan. It’s the only flavour of Porsche’s electric fastback with no extra letters or words after its name – no ‘4S’ or ‘Turbo’ topper.

At £70k, it’s £13,000 cheaper than the 4S, which has 4WD and more power. It makes do with only one motor – the 4S’s rear motor, in fact – driving the rear wheels.

Officially, Porsche rates the car good for 321bhp, but it ‘overboosts’ to 402bhp when you flatten the throttle.

Porsche reckons Taycan buyers add 10-15 per cent onto the base price in extra garnish, tech, and features. At the top of the list for £4,800, Porsche will sell you more range. The ‘Performance Battery Plus’ ups capacity from 79kWh to 93kWh, and claimed range leaps from 268 miles to a nice, round 301 miles.

I think folks mulling which Taycan to choose will look at those numbers, decide the rear-drive one is rapid enough, and ‘invest’ the saving in that bigger battery. Then they’ll get a pleasant surprise. The battery upgrade uncorks more power: 375bhp as standard, with bursts of 469bhp in Sport Plus mode.

The g-forces merely tickle your tummy, instead of emptying it all over the dashboard – in Normal mode at least. Crank things up to Sport Plus and it instantly morphs from ‘adequately brisk’ to ‘I hope that wasn’t a police car back there’. Traction is the opposite of Donald Trump: unimpeachable. So you really don’t need AWD. The uncorrupted steering is the best of any Taycan – of any EV, in fact – and the real-world range is 250 miles.

At £70k, (plus the inevitable 10 grand) for the bigger battery and a few bits and bobs, no other electric car offers this much quality and such a complete, enjoyable drive. An Audi e-tron, Jaguar I-Pace or assorted Teslas can offer you more space – or a lot more range – but if you want an EV that’s more than just numberwang, nothing is this complete.

There’s something else too. Just as we stagger out of a ballistic 911 Turbo S and find ourselves craving the simpler pleasures of a regular Carrera, the lowest priced, slowest Taycan is all the electric Porsche you will really need.