2024 Porsche Taycan (facelift): What to Expect [Update]

Update: ‘Design’ section updated.

Porsche has begun working on a facelift for the Taycan, which cemented the 100,000 production milestone in a span of just about three years on November 7, 2022. The mid-cycle refresh, expected for the 2024 model year, should bring substantial updates to the company’s first electric car. Here’s everything you can expect from the 2024 Porsche Taycan.

Series-wide update

Porsche unveiled the Taycan sedan on September 4, 2019, then the Taycan Cross Turismo on March 4, 2021, and finally the Taycan Sport Turismo on January 19, 2022. The derivatives are fresh, but the company may still give them a facelift along with the sedan to keep the Taycan model series aligned.

Spy pictures reveal that Porsche engineers are also testing the new Taycan Cross Turismo and the new Taycan Sport Turismo. We’re convinced the entire Taycan family will be facelifted in one go. In this story, we’ll focus on the Taycan sedan refresh.

Design

Evidenced by spy shots of partly camouflaged test prototypes, the 2024 Porsche Taycan should feature changes to the bumper, lights, and grilles across body styles and variants. The current model is available in sedan, Cross Turismo, and Sport Turismo versions. The sedan comes in base, 4S, GTS, Turbo, and Turbo S variants. The Cross Turismo’s variant line-up includes 4, 4S, Turbo, and Turbo S. The Sport Turismo is available in standard, 4S, GTS, Turbo, and Turbo S variants. Porsche may offer several new wheel options for the 2024 Taycan.

In the spy video below, professional car spotter CarSpyMedia reveals the new Taycan undergoing winter testing near the Arctic Circle. It appears Porsche disguised the test mule to look like the outgoing model, which has new headlights, bumpers, and taillights (discussed later in this story).

Video Source: YouTube/CarSpyMedia

Recent spy pictures have shown Porsche testing what could be a new top-of-the-line variant of the Taycan sedan. This variant has a fixed rear wing in addition to the familiar extendable rear spoiler, skinny tires, and massive brakes, all of which indicate it’s even more performance-oriented than the Turbo S variant which tops the range of the outgoing model. Porsche could be aiming to make the Taycan the world’s fastest electric car with the launch of such a variant. Reports say the company could name this variant ‘Turbo GT,’ and that it generates more than 1,000 horsepower.

Interior & Features

Taycan was Porsche’s test bed for experimenting with radical changes to its interior. The EV, for instance, is the company’s first car with a fully-digital instrument cluster, which might have been considered a no-no by purists had it been offered in an iconic sports car like the 911. Another Porsche first is a leather-free interior. Eventually, the company will be able to incorporate these things into more models as customers gradually accept them. In addition to trying some new-to-Porsche features, the refresh would also refine existing ones.

ADAS

Spy pictures indicate Porsche may introduce new ADAS functions on the Taycan, enabled by a new radar system positioned behind the windscreen. We expect the company to offer new options for the upholstery and trim.

New headlight technology

Porsche should offer its newly developed, HD LED Matrix headlights with the new Taycan. Compared to the current specification, the new lighting system is twice as bright and has four times the spread. Consisting of two LED chips (four overall), each chip comprises 16,384 individually controllable micro-LEDs that fit into an area equivalent to the size of a human thumbnail. Depending on the conditions, individual pixels can be turned on or off, thus making the high-res system extremely energy efficient.

When required, the high-beam function is capable of lighting up the road 600 meters (1,968 feet) ahead of the car whilst also being able to blank out certain portions of the beam if the system detects oncoming traffic. Porsche has incorporated various other functions into these LED headlights in order to assist the driver. These miscellaneous but helpful technologies include construction & narrow-lane light, lane illumination, and the aforementioned adaptive high-beam feature.

Recent spy pictures have revealed that Porsche has started testing the new Taycan with HD Matrix LED headlights. In addition, the new headlights have a similar shape and design to what we’ve shown in the Design section. It’s safe to assume even the new Taycan Cross Turismo and new Taycan Sport Turismo will inherit HD Matrix LED headlights. In fact, we’ve seen the company testing the former with the new technology.

Specifications

Range

Existing Taycan variants may get a bump in the range, which is currently the biggest issue and a major let-down, especially compared to the American rivals. The Tesla Model S can travel up to 396 miles on a full charge, while the Lucid Air’s maximum range is 520 miles, both being EPA-est. figures. The best the Porsche Taycan can do is just 246 miles. The 2024 Porsche Taycan’s maximum range could be close to 275 miles — still nowhere near rivals but at least better than today’s car.

Charging

As for charging, the 2024 Taycan should continue getting the 19.2 kW AC on-board charger (OBC), which is an optional extra (since late 2022) in the current model in the United States. It addresses yet another complaint that Taycan owners have had – the EV’s lackluster charging speed when plugged into the pre-existing wall charger. The new Level 2 wall charger is twice as powerful. The 19.2 kW system is capable of charging the Taycan’s Performance Battery from 0-100% in only 4.8 hours, compared to the previous 9.5 hours.

Similarly, what used to take 10.5 hours earlier for the Performance Battery Plus to reach 100% SoC, now requires just 5.3 hours. This OBC upgrade will cost existing Taycan owners USD 1,850.15 (plus labor charges). Meanwhile, new buyers can add this Wall Charger Connect option by simply using the Porsche configurator tool at the time of purchase, at a cost of USD 1,586 (plus labor charges). While the new system will work with lower capacity circuits, it needs a hard-wired 100-amp set-up to actually deliver the faster charging speeds as promised by Porsche.

The Taycan supports 50 kW CCS DC fast charging, which will charge the battery from 5-80% SoC in 93 minutes. The electric sports sedan can also be plugged into a 270 kW charging station, resulting in the battery going from 5-80% in 22.5 minutes. We don’t expect the DC fast charging capacity to get discernibly better in the new U.S.-spec model.

A new tri-motor version cooking?

Facing heat from Tesla and Lucid Motors, Porsche probably realized that it would have to plan technical upgrades for the Taycan with the facelift. The 2024 Porsche Taycan range will likely include a new triple-motor variant with more than 1,000 horsepower to take on the likes of the Tesla Model S Plaid and Lucid Air Sapphire. That variant could be the one we’ve seen with a fixed rear wing in spy pictures, the one we talked about in the Design section.

Spy photos of a cleverly-disguised tri-motor Taycan development prototype have been captured undergoing winter tests, Auto Express reported on January 24, 2023. The photos reveal the test mule with a wider & sportier front splitter, a large fixed rear wing, and an aggressive rear diffuser with wing extensions on the bumper.

Similarly, while there’s a possibility that Porsche could offer the Taycan tri-motor variant with a fixed rear wing for increased downforce, we doubt it will be a standard fitment on the production model because of its palpable effect on aerodynamics and therefore, range. As with other facelifts, the brand is likely to offer customers new color and interior trim options, along with a new design for the alloy wheels.

While the dual-motor Taycan Turbo S does 0-60 mph in just 2.6 seconds (2.7 seconds in the case of the Cross Turismo version), the triple-motor Taycan may accomplish the same in a little over two seconds. The British report further highlights the new variant featuring bigger brakes and an enhanced cooling system. Meanwhile, Porsche is likely to have also modified the chassis & suspension to handle the elevated performance capabilities, updated the digital screens to display additional powertrain information, and possible efficiency enhancements for the drivetrain.

Price & Release date

The 2024 Porsche Taycan could start arriving at U.S. dealers as early as late 2023. Expect prices to start at just under USD 90,000.

100,000+ Taycans produced

Porsche recently hit a milestone when, on November 7, 2022, the 100,000th Taycan rolled off the company’s main production line in Zuffenhausen, Germany. Finished in Neptune Blue, this Taycan Turbo S was headed to a customer in the United Kingdom. It took a little over three years for the brand to reach this milestone. According to Porsche, the biggest markets for the Taycan are the United States, China, and the United Kingdom/Republic of Ireland.

The automaker was quick to point out that many customers have racked up over 100,000 kilometers (62,137 miles) in their Taycans, with a transport entrepreneur from France having covered over 188,119 kilometers or nearly 117,000 miles on his Taycan 4S sans any major issues.

Porsche shipped 34,801 units of the Taycan range globally in 2022, as per the brand announcement on January 12, 2023. Compared to its performance in 2021, sales of the four-door EV witnessed a slump of 16 percent, year-over-year. Porsche blames the decline on the limited availability of components and issues pertaining to the supply chain. In the U.S., Taycans sales declined 23% in 2022 to 7,271 units (2021: 9,419 units).

In February 2023, Dr. Kjell Gruner, President and CEO, Porsche Cars North America, told Yahoo Finance that supplies were “really constrained” in 2022. Demand for the Taycan is still very strong, Dr. Gruner added. He was confident that supply chain issues will be sorted out, but the situation doesn’t seem to have changed.

Supply chain issues continued thwarting the Taycan from its true potential in Q1 2023. Globally, sales were 3% lower than in Q1 2022 – 9,152 units (Q1 2022: 9,470 units). In the U.S., the impact was felt a bit more, with 21% lower sales compared to Q1 2022 – 1,527 units (Q1 2022: 1,925 units). The Taycan contributed 9% of Porsche’s U.S. Q1 2023 sales (17,440 units). In comparison, it accounted for 15% of the company’s Q1 2022 sales (13,042 units).

TopElectricSUV says

The new Taycan should come with considerable performance improvements, software enhancements, added comfort and convenience features, and a slightly improved range. Although it falls behind the competition in terms of range, the refreshed Taycan is expected to remain a top contender among high-performance electric cars.

2024 Porsche Taycan FAQs

Featured image: TopElectricSUV’s rendering of the 2024 Taycan.