Porsche, purveyor of extraordinary sports cars. Tesla, purveyor of sometimes-questionable-quality electric cars.
Today, the day which many Porsche traditionalists might never have thought would come, marks the arrival of Porsche’s first electric car, the Taycan. Suddenly, two of the most aspirational brands in motoring collide.
New Porsche Taycan arrives as pivotal electric sports car
But for all of Porsche’s history and brilliance, does it have the brand cache of Tesla, the (relatively) new kid on the block?
On the matter of the product - which should be the most important thing, but rarely wins against brand appeal - the Taycan promises to be a force for good. Contributing ed Frankel, having driven the prototype, said “shut your eyes and you could almost be in a Porsche 911”.
The Stuttgart maker is also pushing the Taycan’s repeatability - that it can continue to perform at high levels at all times.
Vehicle line director Robert Meier said: “We have to be proud of the repeatability of the performance. This isn’t just a car that can be thrilling to drive now and again - it can hit its peak over a sustained amount of time. I think that sets us aparts from our rivals.” He, of course, means Tesla which is known for poor levels of performance repeatability on its cars.
Studies are few and far between, but one published in the US last year by Statista ranked Porsche just fractionally higher than Tesla in consumer brand perception.
Despite that, there's every chance those people who would consider buying a high-end electric vehicle are often the same people that favour Teslas. Porsche will be hoping to bring in a new generation of old-school car buyers with the Taycan, but it will want to appeal to the tech-savvy Teslerati too.
Porsche CEO Oliver Blume had this to say: "I respect how Musk has built up his business, always thinking about doing something better. But our orientation wasn't Tesla when building this car. Our challenge was making a car capable of driving like a Porsche 911. Competition is always good though, helping everyone to get better."
Time will tell whether a respected, brilliant car brand like Porsche can mark itself out against the compelling Tesla in the electric world.
Read more
Join the debate
Add your comment
I’m likely to buy neither car
I’m likely to buy neither car because I don’t spend money like that; but, as someone who doesn’t remember dreams very often I woke my other half up to complain that sadly I’d only dreamt we’d owned [insert car]
... I can tell you now it was Orange so that pretty much narrows it down. Enough said, Tesla trails Porsche in my mind ten fold in terms of desirability, despite their incredible EV advances.
Lol
Lol
Let's see what happens when the updated model s raven comes in next week to the ring.
It's funny that 8 years after the model s was introduced into the world the Taycan still doesn't match its performance or range.
It's also funny how the Brits are just head over heels in its support for the German and none for the American. How short memories are.
As I have said before from my late father, who really won the war?
Just saying...
The Porsche is possibly better built, but that's just as it will be from a legacy manufacturer.
Tesla will catch up and anyone who has driven one let alone sat in one will know
Strangely, but not for me Tesla shares went up 4% yesterday on the tay cans introduction.
It has been perceived as no threat particularly when the top model costs 43% more than the model s performance and still doesn't beat an 8 year old spec car
Interestingly it was also announced yesterday that the Tesla model 3 was the 3rd best selling car in the UK last month, but of course there was no mention of it in this mag whatsoever.
Most people are just badge snobs but particularly the Brits who seem obsessed with one upmanship.
Mrs Bucket would be proud
And without question, you
And without question, you believe Alan Tovey when he says that the Tesla model 3 was the 3rd best selling car last month? Even though electric cars represent 1.1% of total registrations in 2019?
This magazine is utterly full of electric car stories, despite their near insignificance in real sales.
Just because you want it to be true, doesn't make it true. No more so that who won the war is relevant to who makes the best cars.
Possibly, indeed probably,