PORSCHE TAYCAN 4S CROSS TURISMO
Approaching the Taycan is different than with all the other electric cars. According to Stuttgart, the eco-friendly vocation has not forgotten that driving pleasure is at the top of the needs of its customers. The new Cross Turismo does even more and promises not to stop even when there is no more asphalt on the road.
Words Alessandro Marrone / Photos Jay Tomei
Last year’s experience at the wheel of the Taycan Turbo, Porsche’s first fully electrified car, is still well etched in my mind. After all, it is difficult to forget the feeling of emptiness rising in your stomach when you jump from one corner to another piloting a large and heavy sedan, all accompanied by an unusual silence broken only by the rolling of tires and the artificial hiss that tickles the imagination of a child raised with science fiction for breakfast. What the Taycan has done best, however, should not be merely reduced to the now proverbial instantaneous acceleration offered by an electric powertrain, but rather to that incredible driving dynamics that for the first time confirmed to me that I was in front of the first authentic high performance electric car, where high performance does not just mean acceleration and speed, but the ability to involve and excite.
Our office has now seen all sorts of electric cars: from small city cars devoted to usability in the chaos of urban jungles, to sedans, crossovers and even SUVs. Each of them has – more or less – very specific characteristics and we can now argue that everyone has achieved what it takes to make a zero-emission car truly usable in terms of everyday life. Instead, what is still not up to par are the so-called infrastructures, because even if brands want to insist on being able to recharge at night, maybe from the power socket of your living room, the contemporary motorist needs to be able to take the key and move without too many calculations or unnerving waits that are not yet able to compete with the few seconds needed at the petrol pump.
I remember well the behavior of the Taycan, the familiarity with which you are greeted – starting from the nomenclature of the different versions kept unchanged in comparison to the internal combustion range – but certain sensations tend to fade, despite the grandeur of those chills that rise up your back as you throw over two tons in a provocative snake of curves. Having met the hoped-for sales, just over a year later, Porsche’s electric family expands and welcomes two further versions: the Cross Turismo and the Sport Turismo. Logically based on the sedan counterpart, they both sport a shooting brake look reminiscent of that of the Panamera Sport Turismo that I love so much, offering more practicality guaranteed by a body that widens the usability of a model aiming at spare time and weekends, in the first case not only represented by paved roads.
Ambitious, no doubt. This is the adjective with which I would define a model that strongly divides the opinions of enthusiasts and now even creates a new niche, a substantially still unexplored terrain which intends to make the dynamic aspects of the sedan available to the driver with off-road skills guaranteed by 2 extra centimeters in terms of ground clearance, protective profiles for the entire lower part of the body and all-wheel drive only. Obviously available in the various 4, 4S, Turbo and Turbo S versions, the model entrusted for our test represents this time the intermediate choice that combines the performance of the two electric motors – one per each axle – and a 93.4 kWh battery pack (83, 7 kWh, those usable).
Aesthetically made more harmonious thanks to the rounded and extremely wide tail, which not only offers greater load capacity, but better accessibility to the rear seats that can be configured with two armchairs divided between them, or with the traditional three-seats bench. From any angle you look, it seems to be in front of something like “The Jetsons” meet “Fast & Furious”. The Cross Turismo is not the crossover as many intend it. Everything is exactly where it should be, or better yet, where you would expect it to be. The seat is almost level with the ground, thanks to the ingenious positioning of the batteries, which help to keep low the center of gravity of the car, because as you can imagine driving involvement is still the key point of the experience according to Porsche. Once the door is closed we are greeted by the typical cockpit already introduced with the Taycan sedan, with the ignition button on the left of the steering wheel and the gear selector to the right, obviously with only P, R, N and D. The center console divides the front passenger from the driver with two large touch screens, the main one with the infotelematic system, the lower one with climate controls and some parameters on the status of the batteries, while behind the steering wheel we have a fully digital and curved 17-inch dash, via which to keep under control the main driving stats, navigation, or the classic circular instrumentation, if you decide to go hard with the gas..ehm the throttle. As an option you can have a fourth display, obtained in front of the eyes of the passenger next to you.
The 4S delivers a total power of 420 kW, or the equivalent of approximately 571 horsepower. The overflowing torque of 1,049 Nm is grounded in the blink of an eye and thanks to the four-wheel drive that puts so much divine glory on the road, you are immediately splashed from one point to another in total and unnatural silence. Among the driving modes there is Range, more devoted to a longer mileage and which limits the maximum speed of the car (we will talk about this later, ed), Normal, Sport, Sport Plus and Gravel, the one that distinguishes the Cross Turismo from the other Taycan. 2,310 kg are obviously felt, especially in the most sudden direction changes, but even when trying to undermine the set-up, the CT remains glued to the ground, impassive even when the road is covered with light dirt. With good energy recovery during braking, you soon learn that you only need one pedal to drive, leaving the brake for the most violent stops.
What is certain is that at these speeds and taking advantage of every droplet of power released by the lithium ions, the distance declared by the brand in about 453 km is pure science fiction. In this regard, taking advantage of the fastest available socket between the two at disposal, it takes 22 and a half minutes to go from 0 to 80% of charge, while the average distance I got during the test weeks stopped at a good 350/380 km, taking into consideration a driving style that does not solely focus on energy savings, but that does not even let itself be carried away by the performance reserve available. The differences with the Taycan sedan – and also with the newly born Sport Turismo – become clear when we go to take advantage of that ground clearance you forgot about when tossed from one corner to the other, all to the advantage of an impeccable behavior, just like remembered.
Gravel: from this moment on, the fun made up of apexes, lightning-fast accelerations and GT3-like cornering speed offered by the possibility of opting for the rear steering axle, is declined on dirt roads, which can be useful if you decide to go to the mountain cabin you hired for the weekend. Moreover, it is mathematically probable that only 5% of customers will use a Cross Turismo on rough trails, but the awareness of not having to back off for a bit of mud and stones makes this car even more exciting. In this case the suspensions are significantly raised and traction control becomes less invasive, so as to allow an optimal traction management on terrains you can now deal with without the slightest thought. Keeping in mind that there are no charging stations in the middle of the wild, we leave the hairpin bends and enter the woods with due caution mainly because we didn’t want to curb the wheels.
Providentially, the scarce vegetation seems having created an unspoiled area just in time for us to put the wheels on a stone floor that would put any crossover in troubles. The four-wheel drive also helps in this situation, but a few hundred meters further on, the path turns into some sort of winding tongue of earth and mud. We advance with caution and I notice with no little disbelief that the car that until a few minutes before was spinning me through the curves manages to reach glimpses that in the past we discovered behind the wheel of off-road vehicles with comfort and elegance light years away from the Taycan. The deep sense of satisfaction and relaxation is then accentuated by the complete silence inside the cabin, a discreet advance that keeps the acoustic intrusiveness of man away, nevertheless taking us to the heart of the woods – in a Porsche. It is certain that we would have come this far also with a Cayenne or a Macan and therefore it is legitimate to wonder if the Cross Turismo is perhaps a superfluous engineering exercise, or if it involuntarily tries to create a niche where there are already twice as much the solutions, but actually is revealed as the multiple nature of a model that not only acts as an object capable of taking you wherever you want, at the speed you want and without polluting, but ‘cause it helps to underline how electric cars are definitely ready to supplant those powered by petrol engines. The real luxury is therefore the time we still have with them, before having to definitively say goodbye to the roar of a flat-six or a V8 and no longer find ourselves criticizing the poor infrastructures that are currently the last obstacle that divides from the final advent of electric cars.
As the Taycan previewed last year, the Taycan Cross Turismo is the confirmation that the limits imposed are for now only linked to the charging waits, given that in terms of drivability we are facing the maximum expression of driving pleasure. To be clear, if the future inevitably becomes electric, Porsche keeps demonstrating that it will not mean giving up entertainment on wheels, given that regardless of the respective declinations, the Taycan is demonstrating that driving will still be something able to keep alive the desire to get up early from bed on Sunday morning and meet with other cars-minded people. With the Cross Turismo nothing prevents you from doing it in the middle of winter, dealing with snow and a road surface in precarious conditions and after having indulged in a delicious dinner in the most popular restaurant in town, press on Gravel in search for some silence and a romantic sky covered with stars.
Logically, the total practicality of this model, its look, performance and on-board technology will not cost a few pennies. The Taycan Cross Turismo starts at around € 98,841 with the 4 (476 hp and 456 km of average range), going up from € 117,507 for the 4S, which represents an excellent compromise between performance and mileage. Switching to the Turbo variants you have 680 hp and the declared mileage drops to about 452 km, with prices starting at € 161,183, while at the top of the range we have the Turbo S, with the equivalent of 761 hp, 452 km declared and a price starting from € 195.343. All share practicality and regardless of the ballistic performance offered by the Turbo and Turbo S, both our 4S and the entry level 4 guarantee more than acceptable mileage for uses not limited to the urban environment, a fundamental aspect if you’re dealing with an even wider playground than the Taycan sedan, or much more of what the 100% electric market offers today. If we were to choose the best quality of the new Cross Turismo, rest assured that driving involvement is alive and well here, still deserving that badge, no matter the lack of sound.
PORSCHE TAYCAN 4S CROSS TURISMO
Engine 2 electric motors Range 453 km Power 420 kW (571 hp) Torque 1.049 Nm
Traction All-Wheel-Drive Transmission Single-Speed Automatic Gearbox Weight 2.310 kg
0-100 kph 4,1 sec Top Speed 240 kph Price €117.507