Porsche’s Model S Plaid rival, the tri-motor Taycan, spied during testing

Porsche Taycan has been a bit of a success when it comes to the sports car brand’s transition towards electrification. Now a tri-motor high-performance version has been spotted in winter testing. 

What was surprising was that the test vehicle had a TDI badge on the back which stands for Turbocharged Direct Injection and has previously been used on all Diesel engine vehicles from Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen.

This version for the first time is expected to compete with the Tesla Model S Plaid, which can get from 0 -100 km/h in just over 2 seconds.

The tri-motor set-up in the new top-of-the-range Taycan will give it the credentials it needs to keep up with Tesla’s Model S Plaid range which is now officially available for delivery to European customers.

Last year, Porsche also achieved a big milestone with its current Taycan. In November, the 100,000th Porsche Taycan rolled off the production line.

Image: Porsche Europe

In 2022, Porsche had a good year in Australia selling 430 of its Taycan EVs. It was down from 531 sales in 2021 but is expecting a much better result as supply chains improve.

It clearly showcased that the transition to EVs is what this sports brand’s customers are demanding. Many customers are ready to move to Porsche’s electrified range and at this stage, it seems it can’t come quickly enough.

Porsche recently also revealed details of its next-generation EV platform which will be featured in the highly anticipated Porsche Macan EV and will be developed jointly with Audi. Hopefully, that platform will enable more EV models from the European automotive powerhouse.

Image: Porsche

Industry insiders believe that there has been a delay in the rollout of EVs from Porsche due to software issues that have plagued some of the Audi EVs. 

An example of this was recently highlighted on Twitter by Alex Voigt, a german car industry expert, in the Audi e-tron:

Porsche will aim to reduce these problems in the next-generation EVs and with the 2024 Taycan offering high-performance traits that Tesla’s Model S Plaid has had for years. 

The Tesla Model S prices have come down considerably in the last month so will Porsche be able to compete with Tesla at these new prices, only time will tell.