How Fast Is Porsche’s Electric Sports Car?

Porsche’s Taycan Turbo S – one of the fastest Porsches ever made – boasts one of the speediest 0-60 times of any production vehicle, a blistering 2.3 seconds with launch control. And that’s according to Porsche; Car and Driver’s test shaved that down to just 2.1 seconds. That’s not just fast, that’s treading on all-time fastest –- comparable to the Tesla Model S Plaid’s 0-60 time, a (controversial) 1.99 seconds with prepared run-up. And it’s not even the fastest Taycan. That title belongs to the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package, one of the best four-door sports cars ranked by horsepower, which reaches 60 in just 2.1 seconds (down to 1.9 in Car and Driver’s test).

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How does the Taycan Turbo S achieve such eye-watering speeds? The secret lies in two factors: launch control and its all-wheel-drive dual-motor setup. The two permanent-magnet synchronous AC electric motors present an eye-watering level of collective torque, reaching 12,000 newton-meters when the driver presses the throttle. All this power coalesces into a peak output rating of 938 horsepower, propelling it to a claimed top speed of 162 mph. 

More important than raw figures, though, is the traction afforded by AWD coupled with launch control. With this setting enabled, the Taycan deploys all 938 horses off the line (without it, you’re limited to “just” 764 hp) without any noticeable wheelspin, and thus, loss of potential acceleration. Let’s take a deeper dive into the Taycan Turbo S and see what German magic produces such astonishing figures.

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First, let’s look at the basic architecture. The Taycan Turbo S is a full-size heavyweight vehicle, tipping the scales at 5,082 pounds. To put that in perspective, this sedan weighs just 278 pounds shy of a 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser. Even with figures approaching 1,000 hp, it requires clever engineering to move such a solid lump of car to 60 in the low-two-second range.The answer lies in its electric motors, which at first glance could never actually produce 12,000 Nm of collective torque. Such numbers are typically associated with motors found in, for instance, marine applications. So how did Porsche do it?

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Put simply, that 12,000 Nm figure comes from Porsche’s use of mechanical advantage through gearing. Spinning at up to 16,000 rpm, these motors are fed into a two-speed gear-reduction transmission on the rear axle, the first ever fitted to an EV sports car. Meanwhile, the front axle houses its own planetary gearbox. The gear reductions multiply the total torque output by a factor of over 10 — without them, the front motor produces 440 Nm and the rear 610 Nm, respectively, totaling to 818 pound-feet. 

This provides so much torque that rotating the wheels becomes nearly effortless for the motors, their only real restriction being the level of grip provided by the tires. And with all that weight pressing down on those tires (plus their width of 265 millimeters front and 305 rear), the Taycan Turbo S features abundant levels of grip, indeed. Not too shabby for a four-door sedan.

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