I've been sceptical of EV's from the start, so was expecting to hate the drive. But thought it'd be interesting to have a go and keep an open mind. The Taycan itself looks pretty good. Certainly one of the best looking EV's on sale today.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Not what I was expecting. The ride quality was excellent, but being a Porsche I did expect that. The silence and lack of engine noise did feel strange, and have to say, without the radio on, you do hear a lot of tire noise and wind noise. Having the radio on, which most of us will have on most of the time, then it was less noticeable. Sport plus mode brought some noise which improved things, but still no substitute for a proper engine noise
The bits I didn't like, was the controls. The lower centre screen was ok. Yes everything is just a screen with haptic buttons, but worked pretty well. The sat-nav screen wasn't as easy to use as in the Macan. But the thing I hated the most was the controls for the lights being haptic buttons on the screen behind the steering wheel. I just don't see the point. Hard to press when the car moving around on the road, so eyes are taken away rather the reaching down for a toggle switch. I guess most people will just leave in auto-mode.
The thing I was most impressed by was the acceleration. Any small gaps in traffic, and you're never out of revs, off boost, or waiting for the gearbox to downshift. It made overtaking a split second decision, and thus making progress really easy. I did notice that I was always on the brakes. When cars in front lift off, there is obviously no engine braking, so you're constantly on the brakes when you wouldn't normally be. I expect disc and pad wear to be far greater on EV's compared to ICE cars.
The range. On collection it was stating 228 miles, and I was assumed it was fully charged. So I'm assuming the demo cars get driven pretty hard, as I was expecting to see better range than that. Considering my Macan shows up with around 390 miles of range on it's 75l fuel tank. Though TBH, it's not been driven that hard yet.
So my conclusion? I was very impressed, and have more respect for EV's than I did before. While it was undoubtedly quick due to the instant power on tap, it did feel just a bit remote compared to an ICE car. Could I live with one? For most of my journeys, yes, it would suit our needs. But for longer trips to Scotland and wales, then maybe not. Not unless you plan trips and hope the charging stations are working that day, and no queue's waiting for them. I still think the infrastructure needs to be rapidly improved. There is one charge port in a car park in Grassmere, and every time I've been there the same car is plugged into the charge port several hours later. So selfish drivers, plugging in, and go off for a days walking, leaving anyone else needing it, stranded.
If manufacturers can make EV feel more ICE like, then maybe the future of EV's might not be that bad, infrastructure allowing. But for now, I'll stick to Petrol, and all the benefits, it brings over EV's. But maybe Hydrogen is the answer to get the benefits of both? No charging, and fill up in minutes. Or synthetic fuels. No charging, fill up in minutes, use the millions of existing cars already on our roads, so no scrapping of perfectly good cars. Unfortunately most investment money is being spent on EV's. More need spending on the alternatives. Then we could have several types of cars on our roads benefiting what type of car suits each individual, rather than legislative for EV which a for a lot of people just won't be a viable option.
