The electric Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo wagon is almost production-ready.
The brand’s second pure-electric car after the four-door Taycan coupe touching down in Australia in December, the Taycan Cross Turismo will debut early in 2021.
Previewed at the 2018 Geneva motor show, the Cross Turismo is a higher-riding, wagon-bodied version of the Taycan.
Like the Taycan, it will be offered with a range of dual-motor powertrains making between 390kW and 640Nm (4S), and 500kW and 850Nm (Turbo S).
It’s not yet clear if the Cross Turismo will be available with the entry-level rear-wheel drive powertrain unveiled after the Taycan’s launch.
Porsche will likely have two battery options: a 79.2kWh unit good for 365km of range in the 4S, and a 93.4kWh unit which improves that figure to 414km.
The 100km/h sprint in the base Taycan 4S takes a claimed 4.0 seconds, while the Turbo S completes the dash in just 2.8 seconds. Expect similar figures from the Cross Turismo, which might be slightly slower because of its heavier wagon body.
Although it hasn’t rolled out in Australia, the Taycan is making a splash in the USA.
It was the third-best selling Porsche in America in the third quarter of 2020 behind only the popular Macan and Cayenne SUVs, outselling the 911, 718 Cayman and Boxster, and Panamera.
While the Coronavirus pandemic has been challenging for all automakers, Porsche has so far sailed through largely unscathed.
It reported a healthy €1.2 billion ($2.0 billion) profit during the second quarter of 2020, one of the few automakers to do so.
According to Mr Blume, this has largely been thanks to strong demand for the 911 Turbo and Taycan. The luxury carmaker has also seen an upswing in demand from China, which exited lockdown ahead of the rest of the world.
Since dropping diesel power in 2018, Porsche has put all its green eggs into the plug-in hybrid and pure electric baskets.
By 2025 it expects half of all global sales to come from electrified vehicles, with hybrids accounting for 10 per cent and EVs 40 per cent of all purchases.
