Here’s Why Tesla Doesn’t Have To Worry About The Taycan’s New Cheaper Trim

A little over a week ago Porsche announced the third model of their electric sports sedan, and it’s called the Taycan 4S (4 meaning all-wheel drive and S meaning sport). It starts at $103,800 which is a heck of a lot cheaper than the Turbo ($150,000) and Turbo S ($185,000) models. The hope for Porsche is that the cheaper price tag of the Taycan 4S will allow it to compete more directly with Tesla’s Model S, but it won’t.

For some context, the long-range and performance models of the Model S start at $79,990 and $99,990, respectively. So yes, the cheapest Taycan starts at a higher price than the most expensive Model S. The real question is whether it’s justified or not.

To me, the Taycan has a far better and more up-to-date interior, but in terms of exterior looks it’s tough to put one over the other. However, for people to buy a Taycan over a Model S the Taycan needs to have more going for it than its interior and exterior looks, neither of which the Model S is lacking in. The Taycan needs some jaw-dropping performance numbers as well as a lengthy range to go along with its looks, but unfortunately it just doesn’t. I’m not saying that the Taycan is anything close to being slow, but the 4S’s 0-60 time of 3.8 seconds pales in comparison to the Performance Model S’ time of 2.4 seconds. Range is another area in which the Model S humiliates the Porsche in by achieving a range of 345 miles compared to the Taycan 4S’s 252 mile range, even with the Taycan’s lower drag coefficient.

Although Porsche had slightly different goals in mind when designing the Taycan (i.e., going around a track fast), and it therefore has loads of extra tech to accomplish those goals which won’t show up in 0-60 times, you would still expect more from the legendary German car manufacturer. In the electric sports sedan market there’s really only one name, and that’s Tesla. So it’s a head scratching thing when Porsche’s entrance into the segment costs more and performs less than the Model S, the current market leader.

Am I wrong about the Taycan’s inability to adequately compete with the Model S? Did I miss the point of the Taycan? Let me know in the comments section.