Real Range of Taycan

[Scandinavian]

Be aware that DC fast charging from Electrify America (distance between sites, number of charging dispensers per site, actual charging rates, and uptime) is generally considered much worse than that of Tesla Superchargers. Many threads on this forum, youtube, and other social media with details.

A month ago I drove 1500 miles on road trip. At no time did I get anywhere near Taycan max charging rates from any of the many EA sites I used. I believe the reason was that EA limited charging rates at the sites I used. Noticeably worse than on same trip twice a year ago. I charged successfully at each site, but at lower than normally possible rates.

Edit: by 'actual charging rates', I mean actual dispensed rate compared to advertised rate of the dispenser.

I think you have nailed it with this post. The Taycan range is quite good and extremely reliable with the estimated SOC at destination. The issue is in the US charging infrastructure and its upkeep!

We also own a model 3 and the range predictions is widely different. But the actual mileage driving in the areas where we leave is the same, down to maybe a 10 km difference. The Taycan has a higher consumption but arrival predictions are within 1-2% of SOC. The model 3 has a much lower consumption reported but does not go any way near the estimated distance.

More important than Range, in my opinion, is the state of charger availability and capacity in your use case. If you rely on a lot of HPC for your work etc. I would double check the network before making any hasty decision at this stage in the US. Here in Europe we are spoilt by a lot of very good charging networks, if all others fail there is always a Tesla Supercharger Open for All nearby!

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[Tooney]

Here in Europe we are spoilt by a lot of very good charging networks, if all others fail there is always a Tesla Supercharger Open for All nearby!

One of the most striking items for me in a couple of excellent road trip reports here by Taycan owners is outstanding charging rates and availability reported for the trips in Europe.
Enjoy it!

Edit: No wonder Porsche management does not see Taycan DC fast charging as a problem. Charging is fine where they live.

 

[fika]

Superchargers aren't perfect. Everyone talks so much about how good they are, but you still have issues with slow charging speeds, broken chargers, long lines. You can find complaints all over the internet. I had a Tesla for roughly 2 years. The charging experience is not any better than EA (at least in California). The only real advantage is number of locations/stalls, however in busy areas that is moot since there will be an equal number of Teslas there waiting to charge. My charging experience on road trips in my Audi E-Tron SUV, Genesis GV60, and now Taycan Turbo have been better than the ones I took in my Model S performance. I once had major issues in Las Vegas with chargers (EA and EvGo, and one other I forgot the name) being extremely slow, but I am assuming that is because of the 115F heat? I had to go to 4 different locations until I found one going at full speed, and there was a small wait to get one.

Is Tesla infrastructure better? Yes of course., however the internet likes to exaggerate how much better it really is.

To the OPs question, Tesla has been known to inflate their range numbers since way back when they started selling the Model S. It's no secret at this point, plenty of articles and tests out there to dig into. Most other MFG have been closer to real world estimates, and some even underestimating. You can find a lot of charts and tests comparing range. Edmunds has a good one. However temperature, driving style, speed all can drastically change your expected range, so you need to be aware of how these factors affect it and how to adjust your expectations.

Once range exceeds 200 miles, charging speed becomes more important. The more capacity you have the longer it will take to charge. I typically try to drive about 2 hours between stops, which equates to around 150 miles. Then I stop for about 20 minutes to charge. Most locations (in the US) are spaced out around 70 miles apart, so I typically skip one and go to the second. If I can drive faster than 70Mph I will, which will reduce range but usually not below 150 miles. It still takes about 20 minutes to get to 80-90%. If you do the math (and I have) depending on the length of the trip, more charging stops driving at a higher speed can actually be faster than trying to hyper-mile with less stops.

I really believe that range anxiety is actually charging anxiety. Anything between 200-300 miles should really be enough for most people.

 

[CAGCTG]

You'll find many good real-world mileage examples here on the forum, under many threads. Generally speaking, the Taycan meets or exceeds it range ratings, and the on-screen estimate is very accurate.
As one example, on 21" Mission-E wheels with summer tires I get around 230 miles of range on fast road trips on fast US highways, and around 290 miles on leisurely drives on slower roads or commute traffic.

Wow. I've never come close to 290 miles, and on trips I drive conservatively. 2023 GTS with Spyder Design Wheels. What's the secret?

 

[j.w.s]

Wow. I've never come close to 290 miles, and on trips I drive conservatively. 2023 GTS with Spyder Design Wheels. What's the secret?

I have never tried to achieve better range, it just happens or doesn't based on the road. Whenever I do a "Sunday-morning tour" drive where the speed is say ~45 mph, even if there is stop-and-go traffic, I get 3.1 miles per kwh. 3.1 miles/kwh times 93.4kw = 289 miles. Fast long-distance highway driving is more like 2.4 miles/kwh - though drive fast enough and you can see 2.1 miles/kwh.

 

[Jonathan S.]

Wow...this forum is awesome. Thanks for all the responses! I still don't understand how Tesla gets away with having their estimated range being so inaccurate. Good to see that the Taycan gives you a realistic estimate. Seems like the range difference between the two is not as great as I thought.

Tesla is like a student who while not cheating on the test instead studies for the test: all aspects of Tesla models and Tesla testing protocols are optimized to max out the EPA range rating, as opposed to maxing out real-world driving range (especially for road tripping, which is of course when range really matters, except for Uber/Lyft drivers).

The Taycan by contrast is ... a student who has a solid grasp of the underlying material but shows up hungover for the test and then leaves early because, well, whatever, I sure don't get why Porsche seems to be sandbagging the EPA rating.

This test is dated yet still insightful:
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a30874032/porsche-taycan-range-test-tesla-model-s/

Anyway, my new-to-me 2022 4CT has almost 20k miles but with only ~1k put on by me, so far my range (of range) seems to be about 240 to 280 miles.
And by miles, I mean actual miles, extrapolating from SoC, not GoM ... although the GoM is reasonably accurate.

As for CCS1 DCFC in general and EA in particular, I'm already familiar with that from our BMW i4 M50, and ... with lots of planning ... and lots of research (especially looking at the PlugShare qualitative reviews, not the quantitative rating) ... and lots of patience ... it ... works ... eventually. Just don't plan on Plug & Charge actually working (although the manual activation within the app is easy, once you know how it works, which would be impossible to figure out on your own), and expect about half the kW of your charging curve (even at a purported 350 unit).

 

[violuma]

I sure don't get why Porsche seems to be sandbagging the EPA rating.

Because they're still on double-secret probation from the time that they ran that organized cheating ring on AP Hydrocarbons and really don't want to do anything to draw unwanted attention to themselves at their new school.

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ I've wondering whether it's a case of "Once Bitten, Twice Shy"! Of my other two recently (sort) purchased VAG vehicles, my 2022 Audi A6 Allroad sandbags the mpg a bit, and my 2019 VW Arteon absurdly outperformed its EPA mpg. (By contrast, our 2023 BMW i4 M50 is officially 271 miles, and the reality is that we seem to be averaging ... pretty much 271.00 miles!)

 

[Jonathan S.]

Superchargers aren't perfect. Everyone talks so much about how good they are, but you still have issues with slow charging speeds, broken chargers, long lines. You can find complaints all over the internet. I had a Tesla for roughly 2 years. The charging experience is not any better than EA (at least in California). The only real advantage is number of locations/stalls, however in busy areas that is moot since there will be an equal number of Teslas there waiting to charge. My charging experience on road trips in my Audi E-Tron SUV, Genesis GV60, and now Taycan Turbo have been better than the ones I took in my Model S performance. I once had major issues in Las Vegas with chargers (EA and EvGo, and one other I forgot the name) being extremely slow, but I am assuming that is because of the 115F heat? I had to go to 4 different locations until I found one going at full speed, and there was a small wait to get one.

Is Tesla infrastructure better? Yes of course., however the internet likes to exaggerate how much better it really is. [...]

Perhaps I didn't see any extensive Supercharge complaints during my occasional Tesla forum lurking (Model S, so tempting...) because Tesla owners just don't want to admit that Tesla is anything but (nearly) perfect.

But the EA dysfunctionality is getting far worse this year. The EA FB group, which, granted, is a FB group, has far too many accounts of EA stations at which half, or most, or even all the chargers are broken.
I had been hoping that the newer EA chargers were performing more reliability (i.e., so the replacement/upgraded chargers would more reliably), and perhaps maintenance just wasn't keeping up with extensive use at busy locations (i.e., tweaking that maintenance budget a bit could make a bit difference).
But check this out:

https://www.plugshare.com/location/507336​

... which, at long last, is another EA location in New England north of Massachusetts.
After only two weeks of its grand opening, of the six 350 kW chargers, depending on whether you go by either the official PlugShare summary or the driver reviews, either half or all of the chargers are broken.
(And the previously mainly functional EA location in West Lebanon NH had all four chargers broken on Labor Day, and has now recovered to an average of only two out of four chargers working.)

 

[fika]

Perhaps I didn't see any extensive Supercharge complaints during my occasional Tesla forum lurking (Model S, so tempting...) because Tesla owners just don't want to admit that Tesla is anything but (nearly) perfect.

But the EA dysfunctionality is getting far worse this year. The EA FB group, which, granted, is a FB group, has far too many accounts of EA stations at which half, or most, or even all the chargers are broken.
I had been hoping that the newer EA chargers were performing more reliability (i.e., so the replacement/upgraded chargers would more reliably), and perhaps maintenance just wasn't keeping up with extensive use at busy locations (i.e., tweaking that maintenance budget a bit could make a bit difference).
But check this out:

https://www.plugshare.com/location/507336​

... which, at long last, is another EA location in New England north of Massachusetts.
After only two weeks of its grand opening, of the six 350 kW chargers, depending on whether you go by either the official PlugShare summary or the driver reviews, either half or all of the chargers are broken.
(And the previously mainly functional EA location in West Lebanon NH had all four chargers broken on Labor Day, and has now recovered to an average of only two out of four chargers working.)

I had the same experience at superchargers. Non-working stations, horrible crowding (on V2 with shared loads this is a problem), reduced speeds even at empty locations. The supercharger near my old condo consistently had broken stalls and reduced speeds.

I'm not saying EA is good, I'm just saying they both have issues and that superchargers are not as reliable as the loud few would make you believe. Also the loud few who say EA is basically un-usable. Reading the forums and Reddit you would think you'd be stranded if you attempt a road trip in a non-Tesla.

I've been in an EV since 2015 and done multiple trips from LA to San Fransisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Arizona, and I can say that my charging experience was better with EA, but only by a little. I never had any real issues, only slight inconveniences. I had my Tesla between 2019 and 2021.

Plugshare is good but not perfect. I've had instances of broken chargers being reported but they work fine, and vice versa. Sometimes people just have issues charging, and it's either their car or user error. I've helped people at stations who don't know what to do when something is slightly awry. I do generally take Plugshare into account when planning for a trip though, and try to choose chargers with less reported issues.

It get's easier once you start driving an EV. My first EV had a range of 70 miles. You quickly stop worrying about range and start just driving it like a normal car in my experience.

Back to the OPs question, I'll add more context.

"2021 Tesla Model S long range VS Taycan 4s/Turbo"

You'll probably see a difference in range, but it wont be as big as the EPA ratings. Highway only you're looking at 225-300 for the Taycan and 250-325 for the Tesla.

Charging at DC you'll get faster overall speeds with the Taycan. More area under the curve up to 80%-90%. Many varying charts on the internet but the Taycan will do 200-250kwh up to around 50% and then drop in steps ending at around 100kwh at 80% and 50kwh at 90%. If you look at the raw numbers the Taycan easily wins. If you go by "miles per minute/hour" based on the inaccurate EPA ratings, then Tesla wins. That's why they advertise in that manner, and not the raw kwh or charging speeds to 80%-90% like everyone else.

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ Perhaps I should thank you for preventing me from FOMO on the Model S Supercharging experience!

 

[fika]

^ Perhaps I should thank you for preventing me from FOMO on the Model S Supercharging experience!

I'm sure it varies by location, and possibly it has gotten better since I owned mine. Wasn't meant to deter anyone, just bring "balance" to the debate. I actually liked my Model S! The Audi E-Tron Suv, Genesis GV60, and of course my current Taycan are "better" though. In some ways objectively, but mostly subjectively. I wouldn't trade my Taycan for anything else out there right now (except a Taycan ST).

 

[gryphon99]

Taycan 4S with the Performance battery plus. I realistically probably got closer to 280 miles as I was driving a bit on the fun side to show off the car.

 

[Archimedes]

My 2022 CT4S has averaged 3.5 miles/kwh over 10,000 miles (winter to summer). With an 83 kwh net battery, that works about to an average of 290 miles of range with the 21” wheels.

Mine says 2.9 kWh, which would indicate an average of 240 miles of range, however I’ve never come close to that. Most of the time I get around 215-220 miles. I think the kWH figure on the app is quite optimistic.

 

[Archimedes]

I have never tried to achieve better range, it just happens or doesn't based on the road. Whenever I do a "Sunday-morning tour" drive where the speed is say ~45 mph, even if there is stop-and-go traffic, I get 3.1 miles per kwh. 3.1 miles/kwh times 93.4kw = 289 miles. Fast long-distance highway driving is more like 2.4 miles/kwh - though drive fast enough and you can see 2.1 miles/kwh.

Except your battery only has 83kw net usable capacity, so 3.1 equates to 257 miles of actual range, not 289 miles. Further that statistic in the app is optimistic.

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