Taycan Torn Down to Show What Makes It Tick
Porsche's all-electric Taycan fills the spec sheet with some seriously impressive statistics, and now we know how they achieved them.
Seeking Answers
Porsche's all-electric Taycan is no doubt an impressive machine, sporting a series of specs guaranteed to make you say "how did they do that?" Thankfully, we now have some answers that'll undoubtedly satisfy the techie in you, courtesy of Jalopnik's David Tracy.
Photos: Porsche
Detailed Look
Tracy was able to get the scoop on the Taycan's technical aspects from Porsche engineers while attending the car's launch in Atlanta. And his report is exceptionally detailed, giving us our best look yet at how the groundbreaking car ticks.
Photos: Porsche
Unique Motors
This deep dive starts with the Taycan's dual permanent magnetic synchronous electric motors. Unlike AC-induction motors like those used in Tesla Model S, PMSMs utilize rare-earth magnets embedded into a rotor to create a permanent magnetic field.
Photos: Porsche
Key Advantages
The advantages of using a PMSM design, according to Porsche, is that they're highly efficient, especially in the low to the middle-speed range. They're also smaller and more easily cooled, albeit more expensive.
Photos: Porsche
Shifting Gears
These twin engines send power to, you guessed it, two transmissions. The one in the rear is a two-speed unit packed with a first gear ratio of around 16:1 and a second gear ratio of 8.05:1. This transmission also houses a clutch-based electronic limited-slip differential.
Photos: Porsche
Unique Design
This is unique because no other mainstream electric vehicle utilizes a two-speed gearbox. Porsche says that adding a gear improves efficiency and aids both low-speed acceleration and top speed. Up front, the other transmission is a single-speed piece that bolts directly to the end of the front motor.
Photos: Porsche
Charged Up
Porsche touts the Taycan's charging system as 800 volts, but it actually hovers between 610 volts when the battery is depleted and 835 when it's full. The idea behind this design was to provide adequate efficiency, great performance, and (perhaps most importantly) a low battery charging time.
Photos: Porsche
Make It Stiff
Another interesting aspect about the Taycan is the way Porsche designed the battery pack to do more than power the car. According to engineers, the battery pack represents about 10% of the vehicle’s overall stiffness, and Porsche says the Taycan's chassis is the stiffest of any vehicle it currently produces.
Photos: Porsche
Crash Protection
The battery itself weighs a hefty 1,389 pounds, and the battery tray itself weighs 331 pounds. But according to Porsche, the tray plays an integral part in the car's crash protection. Which, as you probably already know, is a big concern in electric vehicles.
Photos: Porsche
Low Drag
Finally, it's interesting to note that the Taycan has the lowest drag coefficient of any Porsche at 0.22. But these key areas of interest just scrape the surface of the Taycan's many interesting details. So be sure and head over here to read this fascinating piece in its entirety!
Fun bit of news for you all is that yesterday (09/09/2019) was the first production day for the Taycan. Here's to the future and all of the crazy torque that comes with it!
Photos: Porsche