The Porsche Taycan Is One of the Best Performance EVs I’ve Driven, but Not for the Reason You Think

I’ve driven plenty of electric cars from the biggest brands — everything from sleek sedans to bulky SUVs — and while many of them impress on paper, very few manage to like up to that in real life. Range is never quite as good. Charging isn’t quite as fast as expected. That’s what made the 2025 Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo such a standout. I was expecting speed, grip, and all the other Porsche party tricks. What I didn’t expect was to be raving about range and charging times more than 0 to 60s and lateral Gs.

Porsche handed me the keys to the freshly updated 2025 Taycan — the one with tweaked battery chemistry and improved efficiency. Porsche doesn’t scream about it in bold letters, but those upgrades give you an extra 40 to 50 miles of range depending on spec and driving style. That might not sound revolutionary, but when you’re actually driving the performance EV, you quickly realize that all your range anxiety has been left behind.

The Porsche Taycan is a performance king, but its range is what sold me

Let’s get this out of the way: the Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo is fast. It’ll still slam you into the seat with all 598 horsepower available in launch control mode, and the 3.6-second 0 to 60mph time is wildly impressive for something that has more than enough space in the back for everyday use. The ride is tight, steering is sharp, and despite it being the estate version of the Taycan, it feels every bit a Porsche through the corners.

But that’s not what impressed me most about this performance EV. Rather, I was blown away by the electric experience. The range, charging speeds — you know, all the boring bits.

I first picked the car up from Porsche HQ with around 86% charge remaining, reading 272 miles of range in Sport Plus mode. I quickly learned that this wasn’t an optimistic estimate like most other EVs. After around five hours of mixed driving — some sporty backroad shenanigans, some motorway cruising, a little crawling through town — I looked down and the car was actually going to make it the whole trip.

And it did. Having switched into the Range driving mode (which is essentially the most efficient option), I managed to drive 286 miles with around 16% of the charge remaining. That was with a pretty full trunk, the A/C switched on, and zero hypermiling nonsense.

The cherry on top? Charging. The 2025 Taycan supports up to 320 kW ultra-fast charging, and I got to test that with a 250 kW+ station. It went from 10% to 80% in under 20 minutes. That’s not a manufacturer estimate, it’s what I saw. Almost an entire charge in the time it took me to get some breakfast in Starbucks and visit the bathroom. Even at lower-powered stations, it never felt sluggish.

Now, there is one big range competitor: the Lucid Air. It can go nearly 500 miles on a full charge. It’s the champion of EV range, no question. It also supports ultra-fast charging and makes good on that promise. But while the Lucid Air is pegged as a luxury cruiser — smooth, refined, and wonderfully comfortable — it doesn’t make your heart race.

Meanwhile, the Taycan absolutely does. It’s a performance EV first and foremost, and one that just happens to also nail range and charging. And that’s the difference. Lucid’s range might be longer, but the Taycan’s range is still exceptional — and delivered in a package that’s genuinely exciting to drive.

Inside, the Taycan 4S Cross Turismo is everything you’d expect from Porsche: impeccable build quality, sharp design, and just enough screens to feel futuristic. That said, not everything is perfect. I despise touchscreen climate controls, and Porsche has opted to include these rather than the physical buttons you’ll find in other EVs, including the Macan. Dragging a virtual vent around on a screen instead of twisting a knob feels like a usability downgrade, not progress.

But I’ll forgive that because the rest of the cabin is a stunner. The Provence paint might not have been my go-to color on paper, but in person? It absolutely sings. It’s a light, lilac-esque purple that somehow makes the car feel both classy and a little bit cheeky. Pair that with the 21-inch wheels and the Cross Turismo’s extra cladding, and you’ve got one of the best-looking electric vehicles.

Practicality is also there in leaps and bounds. Rear passengers get more headroom than in the saloon version, and the back fits 446 liters of cargo — or more if you fold the seats down. There’s even an extra 84 liters under the front hood. And it’s not all show; I used that space on my rather long roadtrip.

It’s also worth noting that all the best features — the adaptive air suspension, the Sport Chrono package, the panoramic roof, and the Bose surround system — came fitted to my test car, but they’re not standard.

The base Taycan starts around $100,000, but the 4S Cross Turismo you see here comes in at roughly $130,000. And once you’ve ticked a few of those tasty Porsche option boxes? You’re easily hovering in the $150K neighborhood.

That’s steep, sure, but for the right buyer — someone who wants a proper performance car that happens to be electric — it might just be worth every penny. And you won’t ever have to think twice about whether the car can make it on a longer drive.

Editors’ note: Travel and charging costs related to this story were covered by the manufacturer, which is common in the auto industry. The judgments and opinions of CNET’s staff are our own.