There are still a handful of enthusiasts who reject the idea that an electric car can do exciting things, like drift. Porsche has smashed through that illusion, sideways, with its new Taycan fully electric sports sedan.
Porsche’s electric sedan, the Taycan, has already acquitted itself well to enthusiasts of the world, landing a fastest electric car time on the Nurburgring Nordschleife – much to the ire of Elon Musk who wants to scalp the record for himself. Now the electric Porker can add another feather in its cap: the Guinness World Record for the longest drift with an electric vehicle.
Conducted at the Porsche Experience Centre in Hockenheimring, Germany, the Taycan was kept sideways for a scarcely-believable 42.171km. To put it another way, the Taycan circled the 200-metre circuit some 210 times. Behind the wheel was Porsche instructor Dennis Retera, who maintained this deft precision for 55 minutes. Shedding light on the experience, Retera said:
“When the driving stability programmes are switched off, a powerslide with the electric Porsche is extremely easy, especially of course with this model variant, which is driven exclusively via the rear wheels. Sufficient power is always available. The low centre of gravity and the long wheelbase ensure stability. The precise design of the chassis and steering allows for perfect control at all times, even when moving sideways.”
In Australia the Taycan range opens with the all-wheel drive Taycan 4S, which boasts a 79.2kWh battery, developing 320kW and 640Nm. This means 0-100km/h is achieved in 4.0-seconds, or 3.2 seconds for the 560kW/850Nm (during overboost) Taycan Turbo S flagship.
For this endeavour, the China-only Taycan rear-wheel drive was used. Using the same 79.2kW battery pack as the Taycan 4S, the entry-level Taycan generates 300kW, for a 0-100km/h time of 5.2 seconds and a 230km/h top speed.
The Porsche Taycan range starts from $191,000 in Australia. Deliveries were scheduled to start next month, but there might be some delays due to coronavirus implications. Check out the video below for highlights of the hour-long drift.
