Porsche Panamera owner Tim Casson was checking out a new all-electric Taycan Turbo S in Chattanooga last week, saying he's a fan of battery-powered vehicles.
"It's the efficiency of the vehicles," he said at the Porsche of Chattanooga dealership where a handful of new Taycans where shown off to an invited group.
The Taycan (pronounced TIE-con) was introduced last year by Volkswagen Group brand Porsche. The German automaker is spending billions of dollars to offer EVs across its nameplates, including the Volkswagen ID.4 SUV slated for production in Chattanooga in 2022.
Steven Sconzo, the dealership's executive general manager, said the base Taycan starts at about $79,000, but the price of one can top $200,000.
The Turbo S, the four-door and four-seat model that Casson was eyeing, can go from 0 to 60 mph in under three seconds, Sconzo said, and it has a top speed of about 200 mph.
The dealership executive said the EV is "a true performance car."
In terms of range on a battery charge, he said the EPA rates the Taycan at around 200 miles, though VW has hit 284 miles. Sconzo said the vehicle can be recharged at any Porsche dealership or at sites run by Electrify America, the VW subsidiary that has more than 500 charging locations and over 2,200 individual units.
He said it takes about 40 minutes to recharge the car from 20% to 85%.
"This is the wave of the future," Sconzo said, citing the friendlier environmental impact of EVs.
Inside the Turbo S, sales associate Cullen Clabo worked the dual control screens on the dashboard. He said the driver can control the amount of growl emitted by the vehicle, depending personal preference.
Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Porsche of Chattanooga employee Cullen Clabo drives a Taycan Turbo S.One feature of the Taycan is that the purchaser can still apply a $7,500 federal tax credit, Clabo said. The full credit is available on the first 200,000 EVs a manufacturer builds. After that number, the credit begins to go away.
Sam Furrow, who was awarded the Porsche franchise in Chattanooga in 2006, said adoption of electric vehicles by the general public is coming though it may take more time than many believe.
Until automakers build electric vehicles which can travel 500 miles before recharging, and more such stations are available, EVs will be a niche product, he said.
"It's a good product but with limitations," Furrow said.
J.Ed. Marston, an EPB vice president, said the Chattanooga area has the highest concentration of fast-charging stations in Tennessee and more are coming.
"It's something we're looking at hard," he said.
According to Volkswagen Group, sales of its electric cars, both battery-only and battery-internal combustion hybrids, more than doubled in the first three months of 2021 over the previous year period to 133,000 vehicles.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.
Staff photo by Troy Stolt / Porsche of Chattanooga employee Cullen Clabo operates one of the Taycan Turbo S dashboard screens.