Porsche recently confirmed the production version of the Mission E would be called the Taycan, and now the automaker has released additional information about its upcoming electric vehicle.
Set to debut next year, the Taycan will have an 800 volt electrical system and two electric motors that produce a combined output in excess of 592 HP (441 kW / 600 PS). This will enable it to accelerate from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in less than 3.5 seconds and 0-200 km/h (0-124 mph) in less than 12 seconds. Furthermore, the model will have a range in excess of 500 km (310 miles) in the New European Driving Cycle.
While the company has previously confirmed those numbers, the automaker noted the Taycan will have two “permanently excited synchronous motors, like those deployed in the Le Mans–winning 919 Hybrid.” Billing them as the “turbos of the electric motor milieu,” the motors generate a permanent rotary motion that can be applied at any time without needing to be started. Porsche says they were able to achieve this by have a “permanently magnetized rotor forced into a rotary motion by the magnetic field of the stator.”
Despite their high-tech nature, the electric motors are relatively lightweight and compact. Porsche didn’t go into specifics, but said the motors have solenoid coils with a special hairpin design. Unlike a conventional round design, they have a rectangular shape which “makes it possible to pack the wires more tightly and get more copper into the coil machines — increasing power and torque with the same volume.”
The Taycan also features inverters that use a “steplessly variable pulse frequency” as well as a cooling system which works in real time. Speaking of the latter, Porsche says sensors constantly monitor cooling requirements and special software ensures water is immediately directed to the right spots when required.
Porsche has been relatively tight-lipped about the Taycan’s battery, although it revealed the lithium-ion unit has approximately four hundred cells, which are connected serially and in parallel, and each has a current of roughly 4 volts. The battery has an optimal operating temperature of between 20° and 40° C (68° to 104° F) and it can be charged to provide a 400 km (248-mile) range in just 15 minutes.
Speaking of charging, Porsche is part of a consortium of automakers that have teamed up to launch the Ionity joint venture. The firm aims to install a high-speed charging network across Europe and approximately 400 fast-charging stations are slated to be completed by 2020.
That’s only part of the solution, and Porsche acknowledged it will “take years to build a comprehensive charging network for electric vehicles.” Instead, most Taycan owners will charge the vehicle at home and the automaker hinted the model will be offered with inductive charging technology.
Since it will be awhile before the Taycan is launched, Porsche is extensively testing the model in extreme conditions. As an example, the automaker said 21 prototypes and sixty employees traveled to South Africa to test the car in temperatures of around 40° C (104° F). During that trip, the team logged approximately 40,000 km (24,854 miles) on the prototypes. By the time the Taycan is launched in late 2019, the prototypes will have logged “millions of kilometers” during testing.
Porsche said it has already built over 100 prototypes. Although the company says the exact number is confidential, each was manufactured by approximately 40 specialists.