Porsche Taycan

Specs

Powertrain: Twin electric motors; 2-speed gearbox for the rear motor; all-wheel-drive

Horsepower: 523 / 563 / 671 / 751

Torque: 472 lb-ft / 479 lb-ft / 627 lb-ft / 774 lb-ft $103,800+

If you needed any proof that the electric cars of tomorrow won’t give up anything to the internal combustion cars of today, you’ll find it under the hood of the Porsche Taycan. Or rather, you won’t, because its compact electric motors don’t need the space; they live closer to the axles, leaving the hood free to hold items in case the rear trunk fills up.

Floor the pedal formerly known as “the gas,” and you’ll see just what an electric vehicle can do when it’s created by one of the world’s preeminent sports car manufacturers. By combining supercar levels of power with the instantaneous torque delivery of electric motors and a rare-for-evs transmission, the Turbo and Turbo S versions accelerate with the sort of force usually experienced only by Navy pilots being catapulted off aircraft carriers. (The more affordable Taycan 4S is slightly slower, but it’s still quick enough to induce tunnel vision.) And unlike Tesla’s Ludicrous Mode-equipped cars, it can do that over and over again ad infinitum — or at least until the battery runs dry.

That, admittedly, will happen after fewer miles logged than, say, it would take to empty a Panamera’s gas tank. Still, independent tests have found the EPA’S estimated ranges for the Taycan to be conservative; even the super-powered Turbo S will knock out 200 miles of driving between charges if you don’t drive at autobahn speeds the entire time. And should the car run down, the Taycan can take on electrons at 270 kw — fast enough to bring a depleted battery up to 80 percent charge in 15 minutes, according to Porsche. It might still take you a little longer to knock out a long trip in a Taycan than it would in a gas-powered car … but the odds are good you’ll have more fun along the way.