2022 Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo electric crossover debuts

Porsche likes wagons. Their Panamera Sport Turismo sits in a premium wagon segment seldom explored by other manufacturers. Now, they have decided to break into yet another segment with the wagon version of their EV flagship sedan, the Taycan. This time, they gave it a lift and named it the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo.

Just like the Panamera Sport Turismo, the Taycan Cross Turismo combines the qualities of the sedan with a bit more practicality. But in the Taycan, Porsche has tried to add a dash of crossover trait to it. It is 20 mm higher from the ground than the Taycan sedan, and this height can be increased further by 10 mm if you opt for the Off-Road Design package. This setup adds more plastic body cladding, and beefier fenders, all to mimic an SUV-like look. Above all, the obvious design change is at the rear where a hatch door sits in place of the trunk. The Taycan Cross Turismo also gets a large glass roof as standard.

It is not just the design that gets SUV-inspired elements. The Taycan Cross Turismo gets a dedicated “Gravel Mode” that tinkers with the ESP and torque management to provide better traction on loose surfaces. It is no rock crawler though, even Porsche admits that. But the addition of the Gravel Mode may help it go a little further from where the regular sedans and wagons stop.

The Taycan Cross Turismo range starts from the Cross Turismo 4, which gets an electric powertrain good for 375 hp (or 469 hp with launch control if opted with the “performance” battery). In this guise, the Taycan Cross Turismo 4 will shoot from 0 to 100 kph in just under 5 seconds. There is a hotter 562 hp 4S model that gets the Performance Battery Plus as standard. The 4S is topped by 670 hp Turbo and 750 hp Turbo S models, all three of them mimicking the outputs of the Taycan sedan. The Turbo S can propel from 0 to 100 kph in just above 2.9 seconds, impressive for a 2,358 kg vehicle. All Taycan Cross Turismo models get all-wheel-drive as standard, with dual motors and air suspension.

The price for the base Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo starts from US$ 92,250 (Dhs 338,852) in the United States, and stretching to US$ 188,950 for the Turbo S (Dhs 694,000). It will reach the showroom floors there by mid-2021. Expect a UAE and GCC offering by the end of the year.