Page 60 - Sharp September 2021

SPECS
Power: 469 hp – 750 hp Range: 325 – 346 km (EPA) Price: $119,900 – $218,000
The Taycan Grows Up
Porsche’s crazy-fast, cargo-hauling electric station wagon is fun for the whole family
SPECS
Power: 295 hp
Range: 488 km; 497 km Sportback (WLTP) Price: TBD
THE ELECTRIC ISSUE
THEMOSTREMARKABLETHINGABOUTTHEFIRST-EVERELECTRICPORSCHE is that the company absolutely nailed it on its first try. Not only has the Taycan been a success — proving that even diehard Porschephiles are open to EVs — but it is also among the best cars on the road today at any price.
A car as good as the Taycan could be powered by fish sticks for all we care, but if we had one minor quibble, it’s that the original Taycan could have had a bit more cargo space and, maybe, a little extra ground clearance to tackle cottage roads and nasty potholes. It’s like Porsche read our minds with the new Taycan Cross Turismo. It has grown up — lit- erally, with a possible 30 mm more ground clearance, and metaphorically, with a station wagon–esque trunk that’s capable of lugging groceries, gear, and other essentials. Porsche even developed a special bicycle rack for its sophomore EV.
“The Cross Turismo has to be capable of high performance on the racetrack and must also be able to handle scree, mud, and gravel,” says Stefan Weckbach, vice-president in charge of the Taycan. To that end, the Cross Turismo prototypes covered nearly one million kilometres in testing — equivalent to circumnavigating the earth 25 times. It was thrashed on gravel roads in the south of France, over the Pyrenees, and around the Nürburgring circuit — so, yes, it will handle your next camping trip, no problem. All of which is to say that if you can only have one car, it should probably be this one.
Which new Audi Q4 e-tron is the right fit for you?
To Sportback or not to Sportback, that is the question...facing every would-be owner of Audi’s first-ever Q4 e-tron. Adding to the brand’s rapidly expanding e-tron range — which already includes the Q5 SUV, Q5 Sportback, and e-tron GT — the new Q4 e-tron will be Audi’s mostcompactandmostaffordable electric vehicle to date. It’s a next- gen design, built on a dedicated new EV architecture, which means the Q4 is (similar to Doctor Who’s spaceship) more spacious on the inside than it would appear from the outside. It’s also the first Audi to get an augmented reality head-up display. For all of those reasons, we have to assume the new Q will be a hit. The only question that remains is whether you prefer the more tradi- tionally styled non-Sportback model or the coupe-shaped Sportback. The former has some additional cargo space, while the latter is a tad more fashion-forward.
60 AUTO • SEPTEMBER 2021
SHARPMAGAZINE.COM
CHOICES,
CHOICES