2022 Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo is a 'Swiss Army Knife' EV
At long last, the long-roof Porsche Taycan is real. The German brand showed off the Taycan Cross Turismo through a virtual event early Thursday. The latest member of the Taycan family promises to blend all of the existing model’s EV goodness with added practicality, interior room, and off-road prowess.
Porsche doesn’t call the Cross Turismo a wagon anywhere in its release literature. No, according to Stuttgart, this is a CUV—or Cross Utility Vehicle, in company-speak. The target is subtly different then, and more inline with global market trends. According to Porsche’s Stefan Weckbach, VP of the Taycan line, “it has more transport capacity and does not necessarily need tarmac roads to drive smoothly or swiftly.”
That added capacity comes care of the stretched roofline, translating to over 42.3 cubic feet (1,200 liters) of space if you drop the seats. For comparison, the standard Taycan’s trunk offers around a third of that amount of space. (And if you do drop the seats, you’re still left with a narrow opening.) Extending the roofline also provides rear-seat passengers with 1.85 inches (47 mm) additional headroom.
SEE ALSO: Porsche Taycan vs Tesla Model S ComparisonIn addition, Porsche has fit the Taycan Cross Turismo with contrasting wheel arches and matching lower trim to give it a more off-roady vibe. The car rides 0.8 inches (20 mm) higher than the sedan. An optional Off-Road Design adds another 0.4 inches (10 mm) of ride height, as well as lower-body flaps on either side of the wheels to protect from stone chips.
Speccing the Off-Road Design pack will also drop a compass onto the dashboard—the rest of the interior is identical to the sedan. Well, save for a new Gravel Mode for the drive selector, for those who want to bomb down their favorite unpaved backroad.
SEE ALSO: 2022 Audi E-Tron GT is a 637-HP EV Taycan SiblingThe Cross Turismo is pretty similar under the skin, too. The Taycan’s 800-volt architecture remains, allowing for fast-charging at properly equipped stations. An electric motor sits at each axle, with the rear end of the car using a unique two-speed transmission. Porsche is skipping the smaller battery pack for the long-roof however; all four trims will use the 93.4-kWh Performance Battery Plus setup. Also included across the range is standard air suspension and all-wheel drive. That’s right, no CUV version of the recently released base Taycan.
Instead, the lineup starts with the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo. This new trim produces 375 horsepower, which can briefly jump to 469 hp when using launch control. From there it’s familiar reading: the 482-horsepower Taycan 4S, then the 616-horsepower Turbo and Turbo S models. Launch control boosts power to 562, 670, and 750 horsepower, respectively.
The change in shape does little to dent the performance credentials of this latest Taycan. Porsche quotes 0–62 mph (0–100 km/h) times of 4.1 (4S), 3.3 (Turbo), and 2.9 seconds (Turbo S), just a tenth slower than the sedan in each form. Top speed is also down by 6.2 mph (10 km/h) across the board.
We don’t know North American range estimates either, but the quoted WLTP distances show a long-roof penalty of only a few miles. We’ve repeatedly found the North American figures conservative—as have other outlets—so we expect the Cross Turismo to similarly exceed EPA/NRCAN quotes once they’re out.
Of course, the options list will be a long one. Buyers will be able to spec such niceties as Porsche Surface Coated or Ceramic Composite brakes, an upgraded 22-kW charger (11-kW is standard), Porsche’s dynamic LED headlights, active lane keeping, and the InnoDrive predictive adaptive cruise control system. The latter two are also available through Porsche’s somewhat controversial Functions on Demand system, which allows owners to purchase (or subscribe to) features after vehicle purchase.
There’s another option you’ve probably spotted in the images here: a bike rack. It’s Porsche’s own design, allowing for up to three bikes, and for the hatch to open even when loaded up. The German company even debuted two e-bikes at the Cross Turismo launch.
SEE ALSO: 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo Review: Truly ElectrifyingNorth Americans are famously averse to wagons—the Panamera Sport Turismo take rate is reportedly less than 10 percent—but a Taycan with more go-anywhere ability sounds like a good thing to us. Deliveries begin this summer, starting at $92,250 ($121,400 CAD) for the Taycan Cross Turismo 4, and rising to $219,500 CAD for the Turbo S.
Discuss this and other news at our Porsche Taycan forums.
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Kyle began his automotive obsession before he even started school, courtesy of a remote control Porsche and various LEGO sets. He later studied advertising and graphic design at Humber College, which led him to writing about cars (both real and digital). He is now a proud member of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC), where he was the Journalist of the Year runner-up for 2021.
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