View Exterior PhotosMarc Urbano|Car and Driver
- In our highway test, the 2025 Porsche Taycan 4S sedan’s range improved by 50 percent, from 220 to 330 miles; the rear-drive model improved by 29 percent, from 280 to 360 miles.
- Both models showed significant efficiency gains too, with the 4S improving by nearly 30 percent, while the rear-driver jumped by 11 percent.
- In-car range estimates were shockingly accurate in our range test, remaining within about 1 percent from start to finish.
Welcome to Car and Driver’s Testing Hub, where we zoom in on the test numbers. We’ve been pushing vehicles to their limits since 1956 to provide objective data to bolster our subjective impressions (you can see how we test here).Technology has long been judged by generation-over-generation performance uplift. Whether it’s the Nintendo 64 versus the GameCube or the iPhone 8 versus the iPhone X, successors must eclipse their predecessors by a significant margin to be declared a successful product. NVIDIA, with recent negative press for underwhelming performance gains, and Tesla—which Elon Musk has admitted is a tech company, not a car company—have both largely struggled in recent years to show meaningful improvements. But Porsche, holding a small piece of the EV pie, pushed way further with its second-generation Taycan, showing substantial improvements to both range and efficiency.Back in 2021, when we first tested the 4S and rear-wheel-drive flavors of the Taycan, the 220- and 280-mile results, respectively, in our 75-mph range test were respectable numbers, with both models exceeding their EPA figures by double digits. But by today’s standards, these are middle of the pack on a good day. With the updated-for-2025 version of the EV sedan, we managed to get 330 miles out of the 4S and 360 miles out of the rear-wheel-drive car in the same test. These results represent 50 percent and nearly 29 percent bumps in range. They also represent roughly 29 percent (up from 2.63 mi/kWh to 3.4 mi/kWh) and 11 percent (up from 3.34 mi/kWh to 3.71 mi/kWh) consumption gains. But these numbers don’t necessarily tell the whole story.View Interior PhotosMarc Urbano|Car and DriverThe first place to visit is under the floor, where Taycans receive larger batteries for 2025, up to 97 kWh from 83.7 kWh when equipped with the Performance Battery Plus, yet the physical size of the battery remains the same. Thanks to an improved chemical makeup of the NMC battery featuring higher nickel content, Porsche was able to substantially increase the energy density of the battery, while also allowing for faster charge and discharge. And the weight of our test cars remained similar, growing by only 15 pounds in the 4S and 69 pounds in the rear-driver.But there’s far more to the gains than 16 percent more battery energy. Although the updated Taycan doesn’t look all that different from the earlier model, Porsche did a ton of aerodynamic work on the new car, tweaking everything from headlight sealing to the flatness of the tire sidewalls to create serious range gains. Wheel and tire packages between the tested vehicles add another variable. Comparing the two 4S models we tested, the older car was rolling on wider Pirelli P Zero summer tires and more typical 21-inch wheels, whereas the newer car was in range regalia, shod in narrower Hankook Ion Evo summers on the aero-focused 21-inchers. The rear-drive car went the opposite direction, this time on the less efficient setup, while the 2021 model featured the aero-friendly wheels and skinnier tires; both were sporting 20-inch wheels. Porsche says the aero wheels alone improve range by roughly 20 miles, which would certainly explain the difference in improvement between these two models. It could also mean a maximum range on the RWD Taycan approaching 400 miles with all the right boxes checked.View Exterior PhotosMarc Urbano|Car and DriverAnother interesting part of the updated Taycan is the accuracy of the range estimate. At the start of our range test loop, the Taycan 4S displayed a range of 330 miles, exactly the same as the final result. The rear-wheel-drive model was less exact, but extremely close, displaying 356 miles en route to its 360-mile result. Out in the real world, this is paramount to alleviating range anxiety, especially in drivers newer to EVs. And if Porsche is looking to claim more market share with this new Taycan, especially coupled with the range and efficiency improvements, this is a great place to start.Related Stories
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Source: caranddriver.com
