Lean, mean and green
SO MANY bumps in the road this week you really needed an athletic all-wheel drive to navigate future motoring trends. At a major industry summit the Government’s electric car strategy came under fire from car-makers for failing to provide enough charging points and slashing grants to motorists. Ford announced its classic Mondeo family saloon is to be axed after a 29-year run — a victim of changing fashion and the move towards sUVs and electrification.
so let me tell you about how I helped launch what is arguably one of the best all-wheel drive electric cars to hit the road — the new Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo — a superfast battery- powered zeroemissions on and off-road estate, based around the original Taycan coupe-like sports saloon.
Ahead of its online world premiere from Germany, I was given an exclusive UK road test of a lightly disguised pre-production version — the same vehicle that made its debut on the world stage — following an epic tagteam drive across the U.s. and Europe in which I took part, complete with all the dirt and dust picked up along the way.
The example I drove costs from £139,910, though the four-model range starts from £79,340.
On sale now, first cars will arrive with customers in the summer.
And for the price of a new budget car or a half- decent second- hand vehicle, you can even specify one of two matching Porsche eBikes costing from £7,500 to £9,500 to carry on the back.
The new all-rounder equipped with four individual seats or five with a rear bench — adds a new shooting-brake body-style to the successful Taycan line- up, available up to now only as a svelte sports saloon.
The Performance Battery Plus with a total capacity of 93.4 kW is a standard across the range.
In normal mode, my car develops 625 hp (460 kW) rising to 761 hp (560 kW) in launch control over-boost which propels two electric motors — one per axle — with a two-speed gearbox on the rear. It can go from rest to 62 mph in 2.9 seconds, to 100 mph in 6.2 seconds, up to top speed 155 mph. Yet it still has a range of between 241 and 260 miles.
A full charge via an 11 kW charger takes nine hours. A 50 kW DC rapid charger gives you a 62 miles boost in 31 minutes, to 80 per cent in one hour 33 minutes.