Porsche is going to give US drivers who purchase its first all-electric offering, the Taycan, will get three years of free 30-minute EV fast-charges all across the country.
The deal has been cut with Electrify America, whose coast-to-coast network includes 350kW fast-chargers that will allow the Taycan, with its 800 volt technology, to recharge 60 miles (100km) of range in as little as 4 minutes.
The cost of the electricity is built in to the price of the Taycan, says the carmaker, and there is no limit on how many fast-charges any driver can have – although each charge is limited to 30 minutes.
Even so, a 30 minute charge on a 350kW charger is more than enough to recharge the Taycan, which is expected to have a range of 500km, from 0 to 90 per cent.
Electrify America, which is the EV fast-charging network established in 2016 by Volkswagen AG as part of its restitution for the Dieselgate scandal, offers 300 EV charging stations in 42 states across the USA, as well as 180 metro stations in 17 key areas.
Highway stations are no more than 120 miles (193km) apart and have two 350kW chargers at each site, while metro stations offer an average of 5 dispensers (some up to 10) and can charge at speeds of up to 150kW.
By the time the Taycan is released onto the market in late 2019, Electrify America will have 484 sites in total with over 2,000 charging dispensers.
Certain Porsche dealers will also have 320kW proprietary DC chargers installed, with other dealers making 50kW chargers available to customers.
Porsche North America’s chief Klaus Zellmer said in a statement to the press that, “Together, Electrify America and our Porsche dealer network will provide a national infrastructure for DC fast charging that frees future Taycan owners from range anxiety.”
In addition to the option to charge when out on the road, Porsche are offering home charging options, which “will turn the customer’s garage into the equivalent of a personal gas station,” Zellmer said.
While its still some months until the luxury carmaker makes the Taycan available for sale in the USA, it is already anticipating considerable interest, having only announced last week that it is planning to double output before even commencing production.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.