In last month’s Famous Last Words I mentioned that the all-new, fully electric Porsche Taycan will be here in Australia in December and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen so much excitement about a new car.

Now I do admire Porsches and acknowledge they are very good cars, but I’m not infatuated with them and if money wasn’t an issue, Porsche probably wouldn’t be my car of choice, however the new Taycan could very well change my thinking.

All the people I’ve spoken who have driven the car, agree the Taycan is amazing. The technology and innovations incorporated into this car make it streets ahead of any other mass produced electric vehicle on the market, and that’s without taking into account the performance figures that are equivalent to some of the top of the
range Porsche’s.

In a short period of time, the Taycan has won more than 40 international awards, and most importantly in its principal markets of Germany, US, UK and China:
 World Car of the Year 2020 in both World Performance Car and
World Luxury Car categories: World Car of the Year (WCOTY)
 Car of the Year: BBC Top Gear Magazine (UK) Game Changer of the Year: BBC Top Gear Magazine (UK)
 The China Green Car of the Year: Chinese Car of the Year (CCOTY)
 German Car of the Year (GCOTY)
 Awarded the prize for innovation by Connect magazine (Germany).

But there was one award announced last month that proved to me this is a very special car and that’s when the Center of Automotive Management decided that out of approximately 250 production vehicles evaluated for 2019/20, the Porsche Taycan was declared the most important innovation driver in the global automotive market.

To put this into context, The Center of Automotive Management (CAM) is an independent scientific institute for strategic consulting and empirical automotive and mobility research at the University of Applied Sciences (FHDW) in Bergisch Gladbach. Under Centre Director Professor Stefan Bratzel, they have been analyzing the innovations of global automotive manufacturers since 2005.

So judged by scientists, the Porsche Taycan won this award thanks to its 27 new developments, 13 being world first’s. Special mention was given to the 800-volt architecture which permits short charging times; two-speed transmission on the rear axle that guarantee a unique driving experience; high recuperative power of up to
265 kW; and the best drag coefficient value which makes a significant contribution to low energy consumption and markedly improves the driving range. All of this developed by a new team at Porsche and built in a completely new carbon-neutral factory, so on paper it certainly ticks all the boxes.

With the entry level Taycan 4S starting at $191,00 and the flagship Taycan Turbo S (which doesn’t have a turbo!!) at $339,100 plus on roads, these are not cheap cars, but it can be argued that the amount of ground breaking technology, performance and it’s environmentally friendly disposition, will certainly appeal to many people.

And whilst most of us can’t justify spending that much on a car, it can be said that Porsche have broken a lot of ground with the Taycan and I’m sure we’ll see innovations incorporated into this car, transposed into other cars in the not too distant future.

And what may those other cars be?

Well Ford Performance recently introduced the all-electric Mustang Mach-E 1400: a one-of-a-kind all-electric prototype which develops 1,400 peak horsepower and more than 2,300 lb. of down force.

The Mustang Mach-E is a collaboration between Ford Performance and RTR Vehicles, an American automotive company founded in 2009 which is involved in designing, developing and manufacturing OEM+ performance vehicle packages for Ford’s product line.

RTR stands for “Ready to Rock!”, and that’s exactly what it’s company founder and Professional drift driver Vaughn Gittin Jr. does, when he puts the Mustang Mach-E up against Ford Performance Drivers Ken Block, Chelsea DeNofa, Hailie Deegan, and Joey Logano…