New Porsche Taycan facelift unmasked on Nurburgring
Buyers can expect the updated Taycan to arrive in 2024
The electric car world is moving quickly with more efficient batteries allowing for greater range and performance - and not wanting to be left by the wayside, Porsche is almost ready to reveal a mid-life update for its all-electric Taycan.
Since its launch in 2019 we’ve seen new rivals emerge to challenge the Taycan, including the revised Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQE, all-new Lotus Emeya and the impressive Lucid Air - which sadly isn’t yet available in the UK. To keep up with this strong competition we should see the Taycan feature a modified powertrain.
The current range of trim levels are likely to continue, with an entry-level Taycan, 4S, GTS, Turbo and range-topping Turbo S. The base Taycan should come with a 79.2kWh battery, while the faster, more expensive models will feature a 93.4kWh unit. Porsche may well tweak the cooling and overall efficiency of the batteries to increase range - especially the mileage lost during cold weather. The most recent upgrade saw the Turbo 4S go from 288 miles to a maximum 318 miles, so Porsche has already demonstrated how it can extract more range from the model, although this is still some way off the Mercedes EQE which can cover up to 376 miles from a single charge.
These latest spy shots give us an unobstructed look at the new car. The front end has received a host of subtle tweaks with a slightly reshaped quad-headlight cluster that sits more inline with the bonnet’s leading edge, while more obvious changes are the reshaped air intakes which should help to provide a better drag coefficient than the 0.22 Cd of the current car.
Down the side the vertical vent behind the front wheel remains, and as we look to the rear there are additional vents below the light bar. The lower section of the diffuser has become more prominent, too.
Although this test car sits on 20-inch wheels available on the current Taycan, a new set of alloy-wheel choices are expected to be added with the facelift.
We’ve also spotted a new range-topping version of the Taycan, with a triple-motor set-up and performance-focused aerodynamic tweaks, as a rival to the Tesla Model S Plaid. We believe this model will appear alongside the facelifted Taycan in 2024.
Now read our review of the 2023 Porsche Taycan...
