Navigating today’s increasingly large field of electric car options can be overwhelming. Tesla dominates as one of the pioneers in the industry, but how do their cars stack up to those by auto industry giants who did not cut their teeth on electric vehicles, but focused on style and luxury instead? Our friends over at Car and Driver have taken the time to compare two similar high-profile sedans on the electric market: the 2020 Porsche Taycan 4S and Tesla’s Model S Long Range Plus.
The Model S is Tesla’s first electric model—introduced in 2012—which started Tesla on its current trajectory. It has been offered in some form or another since its original introduction, and is a staple in the EV world. The Taycan is Porche’s first foray into fully electric vehicles, and was clearly designed with the Model S driver in mind with the goal of offering a similar end product with more of a focus on the excitement that a Porsche can offer.
The Porsche Taycan 4S: The Electric Car that Actually Focuses on Fun
When you compare a Taycan to a Model S the first thing you are going to notice is how much better the Taycan looks, both inside and out. Teslas aren’t known for having luxury styling, so the premium design and styling on the Porsche are miles above Tesla’s. The Porsche is as happy to see you as you are to see it, and “reveals itself by a smile that expresses total delight.”
It features a 0-60 speed of 3.4 seconds and can do a quarter mile in 11.7. With the power coming off of its electric motors maxing out at 562 hp and able to produce 479 lb/ft of torque, no one can say that an electric car isn’t quick or powerful. The Porsche’s highway range of only around 220 miles, and its requirement for type of charging station that is harder to find, however, mean that this may not always be the best model to take out on the highway.
The Tesla Model S Long Range Plus: Perfectly Practical In Every Way
Tesla is the make of car that most Americans think about when electric cars come into the conversation, and there is a good reason why. With the outsized antics of Tesla CEO Elon Musk often in the news, the car company regularly gets attention for things that have little to do with their vehicles. The thing is, Teslas are well known for another reason. They work well, with a notoriously good electric powertrain. They have been around for a while, and as with the Model S, there has been almost a decade of work in tweaking and refining the final product to where it is today.
The Model S has a combined front and rear horsepower of 557 hp with 557 lb/ft of torque. It can get from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and can zip through that quarter mile in 11.9 seconds. And maybe more importantly to the long range drivers in the audience, it has a highway range of 320 miles—the first electric car to do so. And with Teslas becoming increasingly ubiquitous, more and more Tesla charging stations are popping up all over.
The Bottom Line: Is the Porsche the Correct Choice or the Tesla?
We’ll lay it out for you, Car and Driver said the Tesla was the winner. But we don’t necessarily agree. The main reasoning behind Tesla’s victory was based on price and range. And we can’t entirely fault that reasoning. The Tesla does gets a little over 100 more miles per charge than the Taycan. And the base price for the Tesla is a little under $71,000, while the base price for the Porsche is just over $105,000. Admittedly, a $34,000 difference is nothing to sneeze at.
Here’s where we hesitate, however. When you are buying a non-electric luxury car, the gas mileage likely isn’t a huge factor on your final decision. Why must it be the final decision factor in an electric car that you are mainly going to drive locally? You want a car that fits your needs, fits your budget, and most importantly is fun to drive. A Tesla may be cheaper, but it isn’t a Porsche. It doesn’t drive like one and certainly doesn’t have the luxe interior or styling of one. In this case the premium cost to get the Porsche might be worth it. Car and Driver may give us the more practical answer, but in our opinion—when it comes to luxury vehicles—practicality is not the absolute bottom line.
