When it launched last year, the Porsche Taycan revolutionized what we thought of both Porsches and electric cars by being damn good at being both. It’s every bit a Porsche in the way that matters — style, luxury, and of course, ridiculous all-around performance and driving enjoyment — but while also delivering the zero-emissions power of an EV. (And, in typical Porsche fashion, it even underpromises and overdelivers on range.)
But as all Porsche fanatics know, Zuffenhausen rarely stops at a single body style. The Taycan sedan was just the first salvo in a whole model line — and the next one, a station wagon with the aim of offering mild off-road capability, is apparently set to debut later this year.
We knew, of course, that Porsche was planning such a car; it was telegraphed by the Mission E Cross Turismo concept of 2018 (seen above). What we didn’t know was how quickly it would be reaching the streets. According to Motor Trend, a well-placed Porsche source says the Taycan Cross Turismo, as it’ll likely be called, should debut sometime in the later part of 2020.
Much as the Taycan sedan was a slightly toned-down version of the original Mission E concept car, expect its Subaru Outback-like equivalent to resemble a streamlined, real-world version of the concept seen above. The concept’s headlight-mounted fog lamps will likely be ditched, and the gnarly off-road tires presumably traded in for something a little more well-rounded; the added ride height and fender flares will likely stick around, though, both to offer added past-the-pavement capability and to give it the macho look that helps sell crossovers.
In addition to the Taycan Cross Turismo, spy photos have suggested that Porsche will also sell a regular station wagon version of the Taycan, with the same two-box body as the Cross Turismo but the lower ride height and sporty mission brief of the Taycan sedans. Much like the Panamera, it’ll presumably be called the Sport Turismo. The big question there is whether it’ll be sold in the United States; Motor Trend says they’re not counting on it, but considering Porsche brings the Panamera Sport Turismo lineup here and the continued interest among wealthy buyers for high-end performance wagons, we wouldn’t be shocked (no pun intended) if it made its way Stateside.
The timeline means it’s a tossup as to whether we’ll see the Taycan Turismo twins before we meet Audi’s E-Tron GT, which was previewed by the concept car seen in Avengers: Endgame and uses the same J1 platform as Porsche’s EV. We’re guessing the Audi will drop first, based on recent spy pics that show it looking pretty damn close to production. Still, either way, the world of high-end EVs seems likely to be three cars richer by the end of 2020.
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