Hotter Porsche Taycan Goes 20sec Faster Than Model S Plaid At The ‘Ring

Has it really been five years since the Porsche Taycan first came to market? Apparently so, and now it’s due a facelift. As part of that, it’s getting a long-rumoured, track-honed version which has just obliterated the EV’s previous best at the Nürburgring.

What exactly is hiding underneath the skin of this particular pre-production Taycan is unclear at the moment, but Porsche has said it lapped the ‘ring in 7:07.55, a whopping 26 seconds faster than the current Turbo S with development driver Lars Kern at the helm for both. More interesting still, that’s almost 20 seconds faster than a Tesla Model S Plaid Track Pack managed.

It doesn’t hold the outright record for production electric cars, though. That honour is held by the Rimac Nevera, which last year set a 7:05.3 around the ‘Green Hell’.

We can only speculate how much more powerful this new version of the Taycan will be over the 751bhp Turbo S, presuming it will have more horses, potentially even matching or exceeding the Model S Plaid’s tri-motor setup. From looks alone though, you can tell this could be a serious piece of kit.

Granted, this is still a pre-production car with the addition of bucket seats and a roll cage, neither of which you’re likely to find in the finished article. That aero package looks pretty bonkers for an electric family saloon though, and wouldn’t look out of place on a Weissach-built GT product. Not that we’d expect a proper GT3/4 or RS-branded moniker, although Turbo GT as seen on the Cayenne seems an obvious candidate.

Kevin Giek, head of all things Taycan within Porsche, said: “Twenty-six seconds is half an eternity in motorsport. lap time of 7:07.55 minutes on the Nordschleife is sensational, putting the Taycan in the same league as electric hypercars”.