The Porsche Taycan will have 250-kW charging at launch, 350-kW possible by 2021

Porsche’s new Taycan, the brand’s first all-electric car, was revealed to the world in production form as this article was going to press. The price will start around $90,000 and go as high as $130,000, close to the Tesla Model S pricing these days. The sedan’s performance roughly equals that of Tesla’s Model S. However, it will offer fast charging that’s much faster. Tesla’s Supercharger sites now operate at up to 135 kW, meaning a Tesla driver can add up to 320 km (200 miles) in as few as 30 minutes. The company plans to boost peak power at its sites to 250 kW over the next few years.

Final details will be made public only on 4 September. But if published reports are accurate, the Taycan will launch with 250-kW charging, and 350 kW will be possible by 2021 at the latest. That means 400-plus kilometers of range can be added in less than 20 minutes. In a real hurry? Figure on 100 km in 6 minutes.

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When Porsche set out to define its first electric car, it surveyed its customers about what they would want in a fast, pricey, high-performing electric sport sedan. As well as consistent performance throughout the battery range, the company found that buyers wanted recharging on road trips that didn’t take much longer than filling up with petrol. Porsche set a 15-minute target, 20 minutes at the outside. Payment had to be at least as easy as using a gasoline pump at a highway rest stop.

That’s what Porsche says it will deliver, sometime in 2021, in its Taycan and the 350-kW charging stations to follow that only the Taycan will be able to use. That exclusivity will be fleeting; other pricey EVs will incorporate the same standard. But Porsche will have achieved its goal of being first (and of beating Tesla).

Tesla, on the other hand, asserts that such extreme fast charging isn’t required. A company executive, interviewed on the condition that he not be named, said that surveys suggest Tesla owners value the quality of their recharging experience more than its brevity. Customers might relax in a café, go shopping, or simply chat with other Tesla owners. However, the company is starting to upgrade its existing Supercharger network to provide an average of 175 kW per car, or about half of what Porsche is promising, with a peak rate as high as 250 kW per car.

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