Can the Porsche Taycan overthrow the 2021 Tesla Model S off its throne?

EVs are all the rage in the modern world amidst rising environmental crises and depleting natural resources — you know, the dead dinosaur juice that powers the Dodge Demon parked outside on the street. And, this trend isn’t a fad. It has been a thing since the early 2010s and has caught a lot of traction since the past half-decade. Manufacturers are competing left and right to switch to either EVs or get an electric motor along with the downsized engines. The latter does break a lot of enthusiasts’ hearts though. One of the manufacturers, who is now the King of shaming gas-powered cars on the drag strip, is Tesla. And the car? The Tesla Model S. With the specifications of the 2021 Tesla Model S out in the markets, other manufacturers have folded up their sleeves and the EV battleground is going to be a competitive-yet-fun one!

Rivaling the Model S on a toe-to-toe basis is German. One that has seen a lot of success in all forms of motorsports (including rallying) and continues to dominate many series to date! A carmaker whose flagship mass-produced car can easily make the mighty Lamborghini Aventador SVJ feel like it’s walking down the quarter-mile. Still didn’t get it? Well, it’s Porsche. And their offering against the 2021 Tesla Model S is the Porsche Taycan. The Taycan is as good as the Porsche on paper and also ups the ante when it comes to driving and handling (thanks to Porsche’s performance-car building ethos).

But how good is either of them when compared face-to-face? To answer this question, we pitted against each other vis-à-vis their range, value proposition, interiors, tech on offer, and driving experience.

Range

One thing that had always been at the top priority for manufacturers is how long will their EV go. Although this range anxiety has been taken care of by many cars but given that the number of charging stations is minuscule as compared to the number of gas stations, it still concerns many people.

For this, we chose the Tesla Model S Long Range which, according to the EPA estimates, will run for 412 miles on a single charge but as history has it the EPA estimates are a bit too optimistic and are conducted under a very controlled environment. To be safe, and according to some statistics, the EVs typically give 80% to 85% of the manufacturer’s claimed range. Going by this calculation, the Tesla Model S will require to be plugged in after nearly 330 miles. This figure is actually impressive and given Tesla’s ever-expanding Supercharger network, this won’t be a matter of worry in the near future.

On the Porsche side of things, the Taycan’s EPA estimated range is 227 miles but individual testing by many media houses show that the Taycan, equipped with the Performance Battery Plus, overachieved the claim and actually run till 323 miles before running out of juice! The only problem here is that Porsche’s charging network isn’t as spread as Tesla’s.

Value proposition

The 2021 Tesla Model S range starts from nearly $80,000 with the Long Range trim. The faster, and less practical, Plaid is said to touch the $120,000 mark. About the Long Range, it is a very well-equipped car housing industry’s best tech inside a tablet-ish infotainment system. it also comes fitted with adaptive air suspension, a 22-speaker audio system, and heated front and second-row seats as standard. The standard suite of driver aids includes anything and everything that the market has to offer with OTA updates making the deal sweeter.

The Porsche Taycan’s base price is a $1,000 hike from the Tesla’s which may not seem much when compared to how much of a car you’re getting. The deal sounds fun till you take a look at the spec sheet. Features like heated seats and adaptive cruise control, which are standard on the other car here, are optional extras on the Taycan. And as with the Germans, these options don’t come cheap! In fact, even if you get a top-of-the-line Taycan Turbo S which is nearly $185,000 expensive, you still won’t get as many features as standard as you get on the Model S’s base trim! The silver lining here is that Porsche allows a lot of customization on the Taycan with different trims and colors.

Interiors

The Model S follows a simple mantra inside: minimalism. There is nothing but soothing lines and curves inside. Not even AC vents! Tesla has integrated the AC vents neatly into the dashboard so as to preserve the looks of the car. Most of the major controls are fit graciously into the center-mounted tablet that the carmaker touts as the infotainment. Talking about space, there’s aplenty. Occupants have a lot of headroom and knee room with impressive shoulder room to stretch themselves.

The Taycan, like the Model S, has most of the major controls baked into the infotainment system but the interior is more “conventional”. This is a good thing keeping in mind that you get stalks, buttons, and knobs (all of the great quality by the way) for simple features like indicators, wiping windshield, etc. It is like a normal car and doesn’t need a person to get up to a learning curve. The space inside might feel a little tight than the Tesla but the Taycan can fit in 4 people easily.

Tech on offer

Tesla has the in-car technology market captured with all the offerings in the Model S. navigating through the infotainment and activating these features might be a tedious job but as you get higher up in the learning curve, things will settle down and you won’t have a nervous breakdown trying to locate the fart game in the car. Tesla also enables car owners to play video games inside, watch Netflix, and chill while they’re at it.

On the Porsche side of things, matters are a bit mature. You won’t find features to fart-prank your occupants but what you have available is more sensible and conventional. Also, navigating to activate a function isn’t a tedious job here! Oh, the Porsche Taycan has Apple CarPlay, which is unavailable on the Model S.

Driving Experience

Here comes the piece of the pie many have been waiting for. Starting off with Tesla. The Model S is rapid off the line and maintains a lot of pace for a long time. The acceleration is a borderline sleeper and we have surprised many Camaros and Mustangs while we had the Long Range with us for testing. The Model S is a very good car for mile-munching on the highway and for day-to-day tasks. It’s just effortless and will propel you to illegal speeds in no time. Hold your right foot’s horses or you’ll be greeted with a ticket!

The last line holds true for the Taycan too. With rapid acceleration, the parameter where the Taycan moves ahead of the Model S is handling. Yes, the car is heavy because of the batteries but the way the German carmaker has handled the weight distribution is stupendous! If you really enjoy driving, the Taycan is better than the Model S, hands down!

Final Verdict

To conclude, both the cars are very closely matched in terms of range with both of them running out of juice well past the 300-mile mark. The value proposition is won by Tesla’s hands down because of all the cars you get for the $80,000 you spend! Interiors? Tesla is for the tech-savvy and for the people who want to have some childish fun while the Taycan is serious and practical without cutting out on the charm. Tech game winner is the Tesla and the driving experience on offer on the Taycan is just a nudge better than the Model S.

The Model S provides slightly more range, more features, and better value for money while the Taycan is a very excellent driver’s car having a no-nonsense everything and is built for the task. yes, the Taycan has a lot to do in terms of value but as a performance-enthusiast, the Taycan is the winner!