The company unveiled its first fully electric car, the Taycan, at simultaneous events in Germany, China and Niagara Falls, Canada on Wednesday.
"Personally, I can tell you that the car is overwhelming. Driving it is more than what I asked for," said Klaus Zellmer, CEO of Porsche North America. "Now let's see what consumers say about it."Deliveries of Taycan's will start by the end of this year. One of the first things buyers will notice is the car's price. The Taycan Turbo starts at $150,900, while the more powerful Taycan Turbo S will enter the market at $185,000.
The German automaker says roughly half of those who placed a reservation for the Taycan already own a Porsche. The question many in the auto world are asking is whether the Taycan will threaten Tesla's dominance of the electric vehicle market, especially on the higher end where the Tesla's Model S has long been the most popular model.
Caldwell said she believes the design of the Taycan, along with Porsche's reputation for performance, will make it an attractive option for high-end buyers willing to pay more than $100,000. "They're a consumer base that wants to buy the latest and greatest," she said.Since 2015, almost 600,000 electric vehicles have been sold in the U.S. according Edmunds. Some 64% of those EV's have been Tesla models, with a good chunk of those being the lower priced Model 3.
Regardless of the price, Zellmer realizes Porsche is now in the race to win over EV buyers, which means comparisons with Tesla. Still, he believes the bigger challenge is making the Taycan feel and drive like a Porsche. "I think the biggest benchmark for us was actually taking a very electric vehicle and benchmarking it against our heritage and benchmarking against our existing model range that does really well in in certain situations such as the racetrack," he said.
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