Porsche Taycan Turbo S.

The Gavler Review.

Porsche Taycan Turbo S Review: The EV That Ended the Driver's-Car Debate

The Porsche Taycan Turbo S sits at number one on our Best Electric Sedans list with a 9.6, and it earns that spot by settling an argument electric cars had been losing for years: can an EV actually be a driver's car, not just a fast one? Porsche's answer is a two-speed transmission, 800V architecture, and a chassis tuned by the same engineers who built the 911 — and the result makes combustion-engine sports cars feel imprecise by comparison. Buy it if you want the best-handling electric sedan money can buy and the price doesn't scare you. Skip it if range tops your list — at around 260 EPA miles, it trails nearly everything else in the segment, and that's the one honest trade-off standing between this car and a perfect score.

What it actually is

The Taycan Turbo S produces 750 horsepower in standard mode, rising to 938 hp with launch control engaged, delivered through Porsche's signature two-speed rear transmission — a feature no other production EV offers. Low gear provides the explosive off-the-line acceleration; high gear keeps the motor spinning efficiently at highway speed instead of redlining pointlessly the way most single-speed EVs do. Porsche's engineers built the 800V electrical architecture specifically so performance doesn't degrade across repeated hard launches, which is a real engineering distinction: most EVs get noticeably slower on their fifth or sixth launch as the battery heats up. The Taycan's tenth launch is designed to feel like the first.

At $187,600, it is not a car you buy by accident, and it's worth being honest about what that money buys. It is cheaper than any combustion Porsche that performs anywhere near this level, and the interior build quality is unmistakably Porsche — tight panel gaps, real switchgear, a cabin that feels engineered rather than assembled. The trade for that price and pedigree is range: at roughly 260 EPA miles, the Turbo S asks you to plan road trips a Tesla or Lucid owner wouldn't have to think about.

In use

The number that matters most here isn't the 2.4-second 0-60 time — it's what happens after. Car and Driver's independent testing put the Taycan among the quickest production cars ever measured to 60 mph, writing that it was "the first production car to hit 60 mph in under 2 seconds" in their launch-control testing. But the more telling praise from testers is about consistency: the 800V system and two-speed transmission mean the car performs the same on lap ten as lap one, a repeatability problem that has dogged high-performance EVs since the category began.

The chassis is where the Taycan separates itself from being merely quick to being genuinely great to drive. The adaptive air suspension with Porsche Active Ride actively counteracts body roll in real time — not just dampening it, but working to keep the car flat through a corner. Top Gear's testers put it bluntly: "The suspension system doesn't just counteract body roll — it erases it entirely and actually leans the car into a corner." At 5,100 pounds, a Taycan has no business changing direction the way it does, and that contradiction between mass and agility is the car's defining trick. Car Magazine's assessment sums up where that leaves the segment: it's "still the EV benchmark" against which every performance EV gets measured.

Charging is the practical counterweight to the range number. The 800V architecture accepts up to 320kW DC, taking the battery from 10 to 80 percent in about 18 minutes — fast enough that the shorter range is a manageable inconvenience on a road trip rather than a dealbreaker, provided you're near a capable fast charger.

Where it shines

• Repeatable performance, not a one-shot party trick. The two-speed transmission and 800V system exist specifically so the car doesn't fade after the first hard launch — a distinction that matters at a track day and is invisible everywhere else, which is exactly the kind of engineering restraint Porsche is known for.
• Chassis feel no other EV matches. Porsche Active Ride's body-roll cancellation, paired with rear-axle steering and Torque Vectoring Plus, delivers cornering precision that Motor Trend credits with "brutally quick acceleration" that never feels disconnected from the road the way some instant-torque EVs do.
• Build quality that justifies the premium. The interior fit and finish is a genuine step above Tesla's minimalism, and it's the reason buyers who cross-shop the two cars often end up choosing the Porsche despite the price gap.

The trade-offs — who should skip it

This is the best-driving electric sedan on the market, not the most practical one, and the honest reasons to look elsewhere are specific:

• You need real road-trip range. At roughly 260 EPA miles, the Taycan Turbo S trails the Tesla Model 3 Performance's 315 miles and gets thoroughly outclassed by the Lucid Air Pure's 420 miles. If range anxiety is a real concern for how you drive, this is the wrong car.
• The infotainment system has a learning curve. Community feedback consistently flags Porsche's infotainment as less intuitive than Tesla's or the newer Korean systems. It's not broken, but it isn't the instant, obvious interface some rivals offer.
• You're not willing to pay a six-figure premium for chassis feel. The Model 3 Performance delivers a genuinely exciting driving experience for less than a third of the price. If "fast and fun" is your bar rather than "best in class," you can get most of the way there for much less money.

How it compares

Within its own list, the Taycan's closest rivals sit directly behind it. The Tesla Model 3 Performance at number two is the value cross-shop — 510 hp, a 3.1-second 0-60, 315 miles of range, and access to the largest fast-charging network in existence, all for $54,990. It gives up the Porsche's chassis sophistication and cabin quality but delivers genuine excitement at a third of the price. The Lucid Air Pure at number three takes the opposite trade: 420 miles of range and a whisper-quiet luxury cabin for $70,900, prioritizing efficiency and comfort over outright cornering ability.

The Taycan's case isn't that it wins on range or value — it doesn't, and doesn't pretend to. Its case is that no other EV drives like it, and for the buyer who cross-shops it against a 911 or an AMG sedan rather than a Model 3, that's the entire point.

The Gavler verdict

A 9.6, reflecting a near-unanimous critical consensus (96 expert score against 93 from owners) that this is the best-driving electric car available. The Porsche Taycan Turbo S didn't just prove EVs could be quick — it proved they could communicate with a driver the way a great combustion sports car does, through repeatable launches, a chassis that erases body roll, and controls that reward being pushed. The range gap versus the Model 3 and Lucid Air Pure is real and worth taking seriously if road trips are part of your life. But for the buyer whose priority is how a car feels in a corner, not how far it goes between charges, nothing else in the segment comes close.

Common Questions

Is the Porsche Taycan Turbo S worth it in 2026?

If you value driving dynamics over spreadsheet efficiency, yes. It ranks first on Gavler's Best Electric Sedans list with a 9.6, built on a two-speed transmission and 800V architecture that no rival has matched for repeatable launch performance. The honest caveat is range: at roughly 260 EPA miles, it trails the Tesla Model 3 Performance and Lucid Air Pure by a wide margin, and that gap is the main reason the community score sits a few points below the near-universal critical praise.

Porsche Taycan Turbo S or Tesla Model 3 Performance?

Buy the Taycan if chassis feel, braking precision, and repeatable performance on a track day matter to you, and if the price gap doesn't. Buy the Model 3 Performance if you want 90 percent of the excitement, 315 miles of range, and access to Tesla's Supercharger network for a fraction of the cost. The Taycan is the driver's choice; the Model 3 is the value and range choice.

How fast is the Porsche Taycan Turbo S 0-60?

Porsche quotes 2.4 seconds to 60 mph in standard mode, and up to 938 horsepower is available with launch control engaged. Car and Driver's independent testing measured it among the quickest production cars ever tested to 60 mph, and — unlike many rivals — Porsche specifically engineered the 800V system so the tenth launch in a row performs identically to the first, rather than tapering off as the battery heats up.

Does the Taycan Turbo S have enough range?

For most daily driving, yes; for road trips, it's the car's real weakness. Around 260 EPA miles is well behind the Model 3 Performance's 315 miles and far behind the Lucid Air Pure's 420 miles. Porsche's 320kW DC fast charging (10-80% in 18 minutes) mitigates the gap on the road, but if long-distance range is your top priority, this is not the car built for it.