Tips for Potential New Owner (trifecta- New to EVs, Porsche and Taycan)

[tfly212]

Hi all, I am considering consolidating my fun car (2020 C8 Corvette) and the kid car (2023 Volkswagon Arteon) into a Taycan, likely a 4S or GTS. Love the corvette, but it just doesn't get enough use since it can only transport 1 of 2 kids so after 4 years, it probably makes sense to let it go.

I've watched lots of reviews, video test drives, etc and I am going to pop into a dealer on Wednesday to have a look. That said, I have never owned an EV, nor a Porsche, so I am looking for any guidance on all the things I'm not thinking about. As a bit of background, most of my driving is around town, no road trips as we use my wife's SUV for that so range isn't really an issue. I can park in my garage and charge overnight anytime I need to. Located in Southern Ca, so weather is not an issue either. Any tips or suggestions on what a Noob should know would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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[kmcdonal]

I was in your shoes 4 1/2 years ago when I purchased my first Taycan.

The EV transition was generally very easy for me. I charged at home and only needed to recharge away from home a few times a year. Those times were almost always when it was bitter cold, something you won't have to deal with. If you get a 2025, you really won't have to deal with charging away from home as the range has increased substantially.

My main tip is to work with your dealer on the options. My dealer asked me if I wanted to review the options, and I largely blew him off which was a mistake. I was coming from a Japanese sports car background. With some of my past purchases, there were like 3 main option choices to make. The Taycan has more choices than you can imagine, and they do make a difference.

The Taycan is a nice blend between a sedan and a sports car. It won't be as much of a pure sports car as your C8, but I find it to be super fun yet way more practical than my past sports cars. I take the Taycan skiing on a regular basis, something I never would have done with my past sports cars.

The only other thing is just be prepared for the cost of everything above and beyond the price of the car. Nothing is cheap in the Porsche world.

 

[anonymouse]

EVs are fabulous to drive and the Taycan even better.

For your driving pattern you can ignore all the noise about “range” from ICE owners and consumption-obsessed social media warriors. Just drive it like a Porsche, ignore the guessometer telling you numbers of miles. And take it to a twisty mountain road as soon as you can for the proper Taycan experience.

You may want to rethink the idea of using a clunky planet-polluting SUV for your road trips. The Taycan Sport- and Cross- Turismo make fabulous road trip cars. Super quiet, smooth, brilliant road handling. You will see some great road trip reports here — although as you are in the US the charging infrastructure is a bit more primitive/sparse so a little more pre planning is required.

 

[Zcd1]

You didn’t mention whether you planned to look at new or used Taycans, which would affect some of the suggestions.

That said, be sure that the back seat and cargo space is sufficient for your use case - it’s pretty snug back there.

Also consider ingress/egress from the front seats, as the relationship between the Taycan’s B-pillar and front seats is different than most cars’.

Enjoy the test drive - EVs are amazing!

 

[tfly212]

Super helpful replies, thank you all!

Further clarifications based on the above...

I am open to buying or leasing but probably not a 2025 MY...I'd like to take advantage of the surprising depreciation and I have seen what look like good deals on 23 and 24 MYs. That will of course impact my options, so if there are any "must have" options in people's view, I would be very interested to hear those.

Rear seat space - I will test this when I see it...i have two kids ages 10 and 7 so as long as they fit well enough to get to school and sports, it should be ok

Cargo space - as long as the trunk can fit lacrosse gear and maybe a set of golf clubs I should be ok. Can't be worse than the C8 haha.

Egress/ingress - definitely curious about that as I have heard that noted before. That said, the C8 is is definitely a butt first, swing legs in entry and you need to brace yourself on the B pillar to get out so it might not be a big adjustment

Thanks again everyone! Have a great weekend.

 

[Jonathan S.]

You can join my previously exclusive club of Taycan owners who previously owned an Arteon!
I had the first year, 2019. Great value for the money, ending my streak of five Subaru Legacy sedans. Turned out to be the gateway drug to far more expensive German cars though.
If you’re used to the massive cargo hold of the Arteon then definitely get the CT/ST version of the Taycan. And even that isn’t all that much bigger than our i4, which is a decidedly smaller vehicle size class overall (but lacks the Taycan frunk).
But overall your consolidation plan makes sense (even if unusual).

 

[Tooney]

My 22 Taycan was my first EV and first Porsche.
Three general tips:
1. It is new technology. New to owners, new to dealers-sales and service, new to manufacturers. Everyone is a noob. Don't expect seasoned reliability.
2. It's almost a computer on wheels. Used to dealing with indeciferable errors, displays frozen, reboots, no network connection, etc. on your PC? Good. Expect the same on your Taycan.
3. Before you buy, spend a lot of time reading owners forums, especially about problems, issues, etc. That long term info rarely is covered by reviewers who keep the car for a week or less. For example, 8 year HV battery warranty sounds good. Forum posts show it often takes months for battery fixes.

Be an informed Taycan buyer.

 

[SergeyIndy]

You are in the right track by thinking of MY23 or MY24 as dealers must move them. Sounds like your next step is to check it out in person to get comfortable with the cargo space, back seat space, and getting in and out comfort. As far as options, we can help with those if you post your contenders with full build detail.

 

[kmcdonal]

Super helpful replies, thank you all!

Further clarifications based on the above...

I am open to buying or leasing but probably not a 2025 MY...I'd like to take advantage of the surprising depreciation and I have seen what look like good deals on 23 and 24 MYs. That will of course impact my options, so if there are any "must have" options in people's view, I would be very interested to hear those.

Rear seat space - I will test this when I see it...i have two kids ages 10 and 7 so as long as they fit well enough to get to school and sports, it should be ok

Cargo space - as long as the trunk can fit lacrosse gear and maybe a set of golf clubs I should be ok. Can't be worse than the C8 haha.

Egress/ingress - definitely curious about that as I have heard that noted before. That said, the C8 is is definitely a butt first, swing legs in entry and you need to brace yourself on the B pillar to get out so it might not be a big adjustment

Thanks again everyone! Have a great weekend.

You should have plenty of room for the gear for the activities you mention. Don't forget you have a frunk too.

It is not the easiest car to get in and out of, but it is easier than many sports cars. I would just go test it and see how it works for you.

 

[vitavalka]

Hey buddy,

for me, first Porsche, first EV, bought about 3 weeks ago, although the used car prep took 2 months in Germany, these were the options:

- RWD has pleeenty of power
- take Battery Plus with 84/93 kwh
- 5th seat, for taking occasional friends
- white color I wanted to avoid, but start to like it more and more
- I love the adjusted 14-way seats
- Bose is great for atmosphere
- 22 kw onboard charger might be handy, but maybe not applicable in US
- privacy glass for back seats is solid
- matrix lights are awesome, I didnt needed them, but wow
- air suspension adjusting height is handy many times

And these maybe werent neccesary
- pano roof is nice, but only for the rear seats
- PASM active air suspension is kinda nice, but would be costly to fix, if broken
- no need for the Connect charger with display

Last thing - I went for the sedan as to mee it looks better and more sporty. And Porsch-y

enjoy your new Taycan!

 

[Fish Fingers]

There are a LOT of options for a Taycan.

Some spec lots of them, while others choose just what they need - as it means there's more to potentially go wrong.

Meanwhile, some like @f1eng (from a motor racing background) only specced things that improve performance.

I would nail that down in your head before you start looking at options. Otherwise it can just get overbearing.

Try and prioritise advice from people who live close by. I have realised that driving requirements vary a lot on this forum depending on location/country/region.

Hoping you enjoy your Taycan.

EV driving is addictive. I thought I would miss an engine..... but I love the silent rush of torque, which makes an ICE car feel like going back to a horse and trap to me.

 

[bn8959]

I have a MY24 GTS ST

I have an 8 and a 9 year old, one is still in a isofix car seat. Both have room to be plenty comfy even on 5 hour journeys.

i absolutely love the car! Few niggles, but all has been sorted under warranty.

I went options mad, as I love tech. The stand outs for me are:

4+1: definite for the time you need to squeeze in one of the kids friends

Rear axle steering: very impressive, make turning in tight spaces very easy. Just be careful on your first few parallel parks, as the path the car takes is subtly different - I curbed both drive side wheels in the first week of ownership! Argh.

PDCC: I love a spirited drive when on my own and this car feels like it’s on rails! I didn’t want to compromise, so chose this options. Can’t really say what it would be like without - but mine has zero body roll and feels just amazing to drive

HUD: I love it. Some don’t.

Passenger display: I like it a lot, improves the internal appearance. Often have my wife in the car and she can drive the media from it easily and the kids like it as whoever is sitting behind me can read what’s playing (reduces the ‘what’s this track called’ questions)

4 zone climate: like the extra adjustability of footwell control and makes the rear seat area look cool

burmester audio: I love my audio and I love electronic music - this system suit that very well and I really like it

Pano roof with VLC: pano roof is great (have roof bars too, in case I want to put on a roof rack). VLC could be considered a gimmick, but I like being able to stop the glare of midday sun. The roof did crack! Eek. Sorted under warranty though.

GTS interior: Really like it. Like the Racetex. Just need to keep on top of keeping it clean. I frequently brush the steering wheel to keep it soft. Many prefer leather - if I did, I’d go extended leather wherever I could (although I’d skip the mad expensive options like leather on the end of the dash consoles and bit of the door you can’t see.
I did option the racetex B-pillar though, as it’s quite a big bit of plastic otherwise. I also optioned the racetex mirror cover, as it wasn’t much.

I optioned the gloss back base to the wing mirrors, as it something you see multiple time when driving.

Have a look through this post I made too:

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/option-choices-compromises.16638/

 

[007]

You are in the right track by thinking of MY23 or MY24 as dealers must move them. Sounds like your next step is to check it out in person to get comfortable with the cargo space, back seat space, and getting in and out comfort. As far as options, we can help with those if you post your contenders with full build detail.

My MY21 TTS has been nearly flawless…

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