The first purely electrically powered sports car from Porsche, the Taycan, is enjoying significant attention worldwide. The vehicle will not be presented to the public until September and its final design is not yet known; nonetheless, there are more than 20,000 people around the world with serious interest in buying one of their own, as the company has confirmed at the Geneva International Motor Show.
The hype continues to build as die hard fans are drip fed tidbits. This week Porsche announced they’ve teamed up with Apple Music to create the first fully integrated music streaming experience inside the much-anticipated Porsche Taycan.
The technology: 800-volt system
The Taycan is the first fully electric production vehicle with a system voltage of 800 volts. This technology helped the 919 Hybrid win the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times in a row and is now making the leap into series production.
The 800-volt technology enables consistently high performance, reduces the charging time and decreases the weight and the packaging space of the cabling. During the endurance test drive at the Nardò Technical Center, 800-volt high-power charging stations by Porsche Engineering Group GmbH were used.
The Taycan’s sophisticated thermal management also proved itself in Nardò. Thermal management revolves around a highly efficient, intelligent system for cooling and heating the high-voltage components. This prevents potential power losses due to excessive heat generation and ensures that the optimum temperature for the most efficient charging process has been reached when the vehicle arrives at a charging station.
The car: the first all-electric sports car from Porsche
The new Porsche Taycan not only proves endurance. Its electric powertrain is designed in such a way that it can unleash its full power even after accelerating several times at short intervals. At the end of July a pre-series vehicle accelerated from 0 to 200 km/h no less than 26 successive times at an airfield. The average acceleration figure from the timed runs was under 10 seconds. The difference between the fastest and slowest acceleration run was 0.8 seconds.
Taycan in-car experience
From the touchscreen display in the Porsche Advanced Cockpit, Apple Music subscribers can stream over 50 million songs ad-free, thousands of curated playlists, and the Beats 1 global livestream with three-year complimentary in-car internet data. This is the first-ever full integration of Apple Music in any vehicle.
“Porsche and Apple Music fit perfectly – we share common values, and the same relentless attitude to user experience, to quality engineering, to design, and to innovation,” says Detlev von Platen, Member of the Executive Board for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG. “Together, we bring innovative digital entertainment technologies in our high-performance sports cars, starting with our fully electric Taycan.”
“Listening to music while driving can be an electrifying feeling,” said Oliver Schusser, Vice President of Apple Music and International Content. “Since Apple Music launched, we’ve been working to bring our customers the best music experience possible in the car, and Porsche has been on the cutting edge in this space. Porsche builds sports cars at the highest level and today, with the introduction of the Taycan, customers now can choose Apple Music built-in seamlessly to find the perfect soundtrack for every drive.”
Drivers can also enjoy the following features and benefits in the Taycan due to the unique collaboration between Porsche and Apple Music:
- Porsche Voice Assistant: Use custom Porsche voice control to request songs, albums, playlists, or radio stations on Apple Music.
- Discover on Broadcast Radio, Listen on Apple Music: Create your own custom station on Apple Music from any song you find while listening to broadcast radio.
- Exclusive Playlists: Listen to curated playlists from Porsche, only on Apple Music.
- In-Car Streaming Data: Complimentary in-car internet data for 3 years with external antenna and roaming package.
- Up to Six Months Included: New and existing Porsche owners get up to 6 months free of Apple Music.
For music lovers with a fine ear, Taycan drivers can pair a Burmester High-End Surround Sound System with Apple Digital Masters and enjoy studio-quality sound for an unparalleled listening experience in every journey. Apple Digital Masters delivers music as artists and sound engineers intend it to be heard.
Taycan also comes with Apple CarPlay support. Drivers can easily connect their iPhone and get directions optimized for traffic, make calls, send and receive messages, and listen to Apple Music by simply tapping the Taycan touchscreen display or with Siri voice control, all while staying focused on the road.
Typical Porsche: a dashboard designed for drivers and a sporty seating position
The original 911’s cleanly styled dashboard from 1963 was the inspiration. The stated goal was to bring it into the present day. The cockpit signals the start of a new era with its clear structure and a completely new construction. It is clearly driver-focused. The instrument panel has a clean, minimalist and ultra-modern design, and operating the controls is quick and free from distractions. The free-standing, curved instrument cluster forms the highest point on the dashboard. It is clearly focused towards the driver and ensures that everything that’s needed for driving is in view.
The innovative instrument cluster consists of a curved 16.8-inch screen with the rounded look that’s typical of Porsche. A cowl has been omitted, which ensures a slim and modern appearance in the style of high-quality smartphones and tablets. Real glass and a vapour-deposited, polarising filter give anti-reflective properties.
Drivers can choose between four display modes for the instrument cluster:
- Classic mode (power meter) evokes the rounded instruments typical of Porsche. This display delivers information that’s clearly arranged information, allowing for fast readability. A power meter replaces the rev counter in the middle instrument.
- Map mode replaces the central power meter with a map layout.
- Full Map mode intentionally omits the round instruments in favour of a navigation map displayed across the full display.
- The Pure mode displays only essential driving information such as speed, traffic signs and navigation using a minimalist arrow.
There are also small, touch-control fields at the edges of the screen for operating the light and chassis functions. The instrument cluster is therefore wider than the steering wheel and reminiscent of the iconic original 911.
The steering wheel has a light appearance, with two models to choose from. In addition to the basic version, which can be customised with coloured inserts as part of the accent package, Porsche also offers a GT sports steering wheel option. It has a distinctive design with visible screw heads and features a typical Porsche round mode switch which can be used to select the various driving modes.
The upper and lower sections of the dashboard stretch across the entire width of the vehicle in the shape of a wing. A central 10.9-inch infotainment display and an optional passenger display are combined to form an integrated glass band in a black-panel look, thereby blending in visually with the interior.
All user interfaces have been completely re-designed for the Taycan. The number of traditional hardware controls, such as switches and buttons, have been greatly reduced. Instead, control is intelligent and intuitive – via touch operation or a voice control function that responds to the command “Hey Porsche”.
All vehicle configurations for the Taycan, such as Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), can easily be set up on the central screen via direct access. The driver can quickly access all apps via a clearly structured and customisable home screen. Apps include navigation, telephone, media, comfort and Porsche Connect. With optimised voice control, drivers can access the required function even faster. For the first time, front passengers in the Taycan have the option of their own touch display, allowing them to easily alter settings without distracting the driver.
The elevated centre console intensifies the feeling of a low seating position, as you would expect from a Porsche. It features a large 8.4-inch touch panel with haptic feedback. This allows the air-conditioning settings to be altered directly. Integrated handwriting recognition also allows quick address inputs.
Every detail has been reduced to the essentials. Like the Porsche 918, the Taycan has a compact direction selector switch in the instrument panel instead of the classic selector lever. This gives the centre console a tidy look and creates storage space. A reduction to the essentials and a clear approach are also evident for the air vents. These have been fully modernised and can be operated intuitively. Traditional, mechanically-operated louvres belong to the past, as airflows are now controlled both digitally and fully automatically (“Virtual Airflow Control”). By clicking the Climate menu, it is possible to switch between “Focused” for fast, directional cooling and “Diffused” for draught-free air conditioning. If the optional four-zone automatic climate control system (“Advanced Climate Control”) has been ordered, an additional 5.9-inch touch control panel with haptic feedback allows the system to be operated from the rear seats.