Porsche launches first RWD Taycan in China

The Porsche Taycan harvest has offered another new vintage, this one only for China, and known simply as Taycan. The lack of alphanumerics like 4S and descriptives like Turbo S identifies this as the base model, as do black brake calipers and new 19-inch Taycan Aero wheels. Under the Frozenberry exterior paint, this sedan is also called out by the lack of a motor on the front axle, making the Taycan the first rear-wheel-driver in the range. A single permanent-magnet synchronous motor turns the back wheels with 402 horsepower when juiced by the 79.2-kWh Performance Battery, on to a range of 257 miles on the forgiving NEDC cycle. China hasn't given up the old European measuring stick for WLTP.

Upgrading to the 93.4-kWh Performance Battery Plus increases output to 469 hp, and range to 304 miles.

Both versions post the same performance specs, launch control propelling them to 62 miles per hour in 5.4 seconds, their top speeds electronically limited to 143 mph. Those figures are 1.4 seconds and 12 mph adrift of our entry-level electric Porsche, the Taycan 4S. And instead of the standard 50-kW onboard charger on the 4S, the Chinese-market Taycan ships with an 11-kW onboard charger, a 22-kW charger optional. 

Base spec installs Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) managing a steel-spring suspension, the adaptive air suspension that's standard on the Taycan 4S an option here. Beyond greater range than its AWD brethren, the Taycan also beats its siblings in cargo room thanks to a roomier frunk, for a total of 17.3 cubic feet of cargo room between front and back voids, versus 15.8 in the Taycan 4S. Otherwise, the fundamental Taycan bits are accounted for — 800-volt architecture, two-speed transmission, dynamic aids like Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control, and regenerative braking that can funnel 265 kW into the battery. 

Omitting a motor cuts about 20% off the Taycan price compared to the least-expensive AWD Taycan in China. Were the same math to apply here, the Taycan RWD would start at around $85,000. Queried by American outlets about the chance of this Taycan gliding our way, Porsche North America would only say "This variant is still in consideration for the USA." 

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