Porsche’s 70th anniversary celebration continues as the company has used the event to announce the production version of the Mission E concept will be called the Taycan.
Meaning “lively young horse,” in a reference to the animal on the company’s crest, the Taycan will become Porsche’s first electric sports car when it enters production next year.
Besides confirming the name, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume revealed the Taycan will be powered by two electric motors that produce a combined output of more than 592 hp (441 kW / 600 PS). This will enable the car to accelerate from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.5 seconds and 0-200 km/h (0-124 mph) in less than 12 seconds. Despite the impressive performance, the Taycan will have a range in excess of 500 km (310 miles) in the New European Driving Cycle.
When the battery is depleted, it can be rapidly recharged in just a matter of minutes. Porsche says a four minute charge will be good enough to deliver approximately 100 km (62 miles) of range. That’s an huge improvement over current electric vehicles and this should help to make the model more appealing to consumers.
While the Taycan will be an interesting new addition to the Porsche lineup, it won’t be alone as the company has confirmed plans to spend approximately €500 ($588) million on the “development of Taycan variants and derivatives.” Porsche declined to elaborate but the company has strongly hinted at a production version of the Mission E Cross Turismo concept. Earlier this week, the automaker said the concept “gives an insight into how a Turismo variant, with cross-utility attributes, could look in the future.”
On top of the new Taycan and its related variants, Porsche will spend around €1 ($1.1) billion for electrification and hybridization of its existing product range.