Blame It On Covid? Or Is The Porsche Taycan A FLOP And Has Missed Its Window Of Potential? Is E-Tron GT In Jeopardy Now?

Electrek is reporting Porsche is having a slow start with its first electric car — the Taycan — with 4,480 deliveries during the first half of 2020.

The first deliveries of the Taycan started late last year, and therefore, 2020 is the first full year of production and deliveries for Porsche’s first all-electric car.

The German automaker isn’t likely to get a perfect idea of the demand for the electric sedan considering the current economic situation caused by the pandemic.

Today, Porsche announced that it delivered fewer than 5,000 Taycans during the first half of the year.

So let's be honest. Is this a 'blame it on COVID' or is it much deeper?

WE say it's deeper and pretty simple.

1. They hyped it beyond belief and had nine years to watch Tesla and the market.
2. When it FINALLY got here it didn't look anywhere near as cool as the concept, it flopped in the reviews because they couldn't beat the Tesla battery range and it is RIDICULOUSLY overpriced.
3. Was the world really yearning for a Porsche EV sedan? Or should they have LED with an SUV?

So based on this lukewarm reception can Audi's E-Tron GT expect to fare much better and is it now in jeopardy because of this?

On a side note, a number of my friends have lost interest in the Taycan and have cancelled orders. As well as in our survey of Porsche dealers, many tell us they've had most of their interest list customers have disappeared.

Spies, discuss...


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Car4life1 - 7/19/2020 11:47:24 PM

+3 Boost

Overpriced, Overpromised, and Underwhelming

You can’t sell a vacuum cleaner to a performance car enthusiast which is Porsche core consumer, give it everything your traditional sports cars have but take away the soul, that beautiful sound, and thrill of hearing the car start up/accelerate

That and you have to pay 2x as much to be a hair quicker than a performance model S nearly a decade old with more space, more range, and more practicality

SanJoseDriver - 7/20/2020 1:19:19 AM

+3 Boost

At half the cost it would be an incredible car. At the current price, the market for it is going to be tiny. It's also over engineered in many ways (ex: a charging connector on each side? why not go with one and cut weight and cost)

rockreid - 7/20/2020 7:15:11 AM

+3 Boost

No Supercharger Network....

... No Sale.

Bach24 - 7/20/2020 7:36:45 AM

+1 Boost

As the owner of a "real" Porsche with a rear ICE, I'm guessing there aren't enough badge whores willing to pay that kind of money for a Dyson on wheels.

Foncool - 7/20/2020 7:48:07 AM

+2 Boost

The market speaks again on EVs, unfortunately the social engineering bureaucrats and politicians aren’t listening, they must Save The World for the Children! It’s for YOUR own good, ........... Well no those rules won’t apply to them.

valhallakey - 7/20/2020 9:40:33 AM

+1 Boost

Yes we should really abolish the EPA and all those other agencies that end up providing preference to one technology or another just because one is more harmful to the environment/planet. Really just let the market sort it out is the intelligent thing to do.

Truthy - 7/20/2020 12:09:19 PM

0 Boost

What is your evidence of preference?

pauerb - 7/20/2020 9:18:47 AM

+3 Boost

Price, range and pandemic. The car is beautiful so I don't think that's the issue.

vdiv - 7/20/2020 2:27:04 PM

+3 Boost

It may be beautiful but it lacks a key ingredient to the success of the Model S, practicality.

MDarringer - 7/20/2020 9:56:47 AM

-2 Boost

The base is $30K too high and it should top out at $125K. The Taycans that show up are not usually base models but fully loaded high dollar ones. At the higher price point, the Mercedes S Class is still the better choice. The Etron GT will be a total mess because it will be an Audi at a Porsche price and it will be seen as the same kind of wannabe car that the Audi Fiero is.

CANADIANCOMMENTS - 7/20/2020 11:30:09 AM

+4 Boost

From what I have read it is a smallish car on the inside and headroom is not all that good in the rear seats. It is a smaller car than the Panamera, not an equal to it. I think that has been discovered by most buyers. The Range is also an issue if you drive it like Porsche which is what most owners would do. Adding more gas is easy. Parking to do some charging of the battery is pain. Porsche is also not an EV company. Everyone is a copying Tesla in a way. If you are going to drop a large dollar on an EV, get the OG.

Truthy - 7/20/2020 12:07:47 PM

0 Boost

Nearly every test I have read says the range on the two cars is similar. Porsche under hypes theirs and Tesla over-hyped.

snowboard7 - 7/20/2020 12:11:06 PM

+4 Boost

I drove one and loved it. However Porsche made a mistake releasing the Turbo S before the Turbo and the regular 4s. No way I'm paying 180k for the Turbo S. The range was not an issue for the Turbo S as it was giving me 280 miles on a charge but for the price... Tesla has the advantage however most Porsche owners do not care about that they want the power, quality, prestige and styling all in one package with an average range. While the 4S just came in the past few months we still have to see how much impact it has on the sales given the lower price. One thing that I was taken away from Porsche was the consistent performance on the track without lost of power with repeateded heavy acceleration and the fact you do not have to keep you feet on the acceleration pedal to keep the car cruising at constant speed unlike the Tesla. The quality and look of the interior and exterior of the Porsche cannot be matched by Tesla. At the end of the day Porsche Taycan is an excellent car IMO.

mre30 - 7/20/2020 2:32:13 PM

0 Boost

The Taycan should have been priced in parity with the Cayenne (topping out at $150,000 max with most sold in the $80,000 to $100,000 range).

Taycan is quite small inside and seems a little fragile (I test drove one and a friend at our club has one) - looking at the rims/wheels and some of the sleek bits.

Positive - it really smacks of quality and seems bespoke.
Negative - people do not want to pay for bespoke.

Taycan launch has been botched IMO and I am a Porsche owner who loves the brand.

qwertyfla1 - 7/20/2020 4:27:07 PM

0 Boost

I have only seen 2 of these in my hood (The Beach section of Toronto) which is quite surprising as I see numerous Bentleys, Maclarens and Ferraris every day. I think Covid and a potential depression may have people saving for a rainy day or at least putting off bigger ticket purchases as I know that I am...

Agent001 - 7/20/2020 9:39:38 PM

0 Boost

Is Rodney's Oyster House still open? I lived at 66 Isabella when I worked at Apple Canada.

Go to the Kit Kat club and ask for the owner Johnny Carbone and tell him you know me...

001

qwertyfla1 - 7/21/2020 9:47:11 AM

+1 Boost

Yup -still open but that is King West area of downtown which I avoid as it is way too congested these days and impossible to park as everything has been made into high rise condos. The only time we venture downtown is for hospital visits (sucks getting old) or to go to a Leafs game which wont be happening anytime soon because of covid...