Philippa Kaur

You should definitely order your Taycan in pink.
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There’s more to the 2021 Porsche Taycan than its new Frozen Berry Metallic paint option, but sweet cuppin’ cakes is that a good place to start. This awesome shade of pink is one of several new colors available for Porsche’s EV, but it’s really just a small part of a big update for the Taycan’s second year in the US.Frozen Berry also happens to be the star color for the new entry-level Taycan, which, at $81,250 including $1,350 for destination, undercuts the Taycan 4S by more than $20,000. That makes this EV more accessible to a larger swath of buyers, and with hardly any compromises in performance, luxury and tech, the base Taycan is as compelling as any other.
2021 Porsche Taycan is a good-driving EV in an awesome pink wrapper
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The main difference between this Taycan and all the others is that it uses rear-wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive; the base model has one electric motor mounted at the rear axle while the more expensive versions have a dual-motor setup. Yes, this means the entry-level Taycan is less powerful and not as quick as its costlier siblings, but it doesn’t make this EV any less good to drive.The standard 79.2-kilowatt-hour battery is the same one used in the Taycan 4S. So equipped, the single-motor Taycan produces 321 horsepower and 250 pound-feet of torque, or 402 hp and 254 lb-ft on overboost during launch control on cars fitted with the optional Sport Chrono pack. The base Taycan will launch to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds, which sounds slow in a world where a Tesla Model S can give you whiplash in less than half that time, but any level of acceleration feels like a thrill when it comes from instant electric torque.For an additional $5,780 you can spec the Taycan with Porsche’s upgraded 93.4-kWh battery — the same Performance Battery Plus that’s optional on the 4S and standard on the Turbo and Turbo S. This ups power output to 375 hp but keeps torque the same at 250 lb-ft, and with launch control, you get 469 hp and 263 lb-ft. But because we’re really just talking about torque thrust through a single motor, Porsche says that even with the bigger battery pack it’ll still take the rear-drive Taycan 5.1 seconds to hit 60 mph. Oh, well.Porsche Taycan, that’s my name. That name again is Porsche Taycan.
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The base car with the larger battery pack should be the range queen of the Taycan lineup — in theory, anyway; final EPA estimates are still TBD. When equipped with the same 93.4-kWh battery, the 2021 Taycan 4S is rated at 227 miles, which is a nice improvement over the 2020 model. Yeah, Tesla still takes the cake as far as driving range is concerned, but I’ll be curious to see what the Taycan’s real-world number ends up being. After a day of driving the Taycan through the greater Los Angeles area, including a quick run up a canyon, I found the trip computer showed an indicated 149 miles and 60% level of charge remaining. Some quick math equates that to a 248-mile overall range, but again, that’s just a scribbled-on-a-napkin guesstimate. The base car’s charging times are consistent with the other Taycan variants, at least; on a DC fast-charger, Porsche says you can go from a 5% to 80% state of charge in 22.5 minutes.You’d think the rear-drive setup might noticeably change the Taycan’s on-road behavior, but it really doesn’t feel all that different. Sure, the base car lacks the outright shoot-you-out-of-a-corner torque of the Turbo or Turbo S, but even compared with a 4S, the handling differences are negligible. This purple/gray interior scheme is so cool, and the base car’s cabin is just as comfortable and techy as the more expensive Taycan models.
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Jettisoning the second drive motor saves 205 pounds of weight, all of which comes off the front axle, but the front end doesn’t lose any precision while cornering. The steering tune is unchanged from the other Taycans, so it’s quick and direct, with lots of feedback. The batteries are positioned low in the center of the chassis, both of which are boons for handling. This also makes it a lot harder to get the rear end to break loose despite the rear-drive architecture, though make no mistake, the Taycan will definitely drift under the right conditions.Porsche doesn’t restrict what kinds of options you can add to the base Taycan, so even in this least-powerful spec, you can snag all sorts of performance upgrades. This test car has the adaptive air suspension and rear-axle steering, both of which definitely help with that aforementioned agility. You can add Porsche’s torque-vectoring tech, too.Oh, and you aren’t stuck with the dumpy 19-inch wheels seen here, thank god. These are the Taycan’s standard aero wheels, but larger 20- and 21-inch options are available. Behind those wheels, you can fit Porsche’s often finicky Surface Coated brakes, but I have to imagine that if you’re buying the base spec, you don’t really need that extra stopping power. My one big complaint is that Porsche doesn’t offer enough regenerative braking power to allow for true one-pedal driving. I know I’m not alone in saying I love one-pedal EV driving and it’s a shame the Taycan doesn’t offer this experience, even as a setting you can turn on and off, like in the Ford Mustang Mach-E.The base 19-inch wheels look so bad. Ugh.
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All of the Taycan’s exterior design, interior furnishing and onboard tech options are offered on the base model, so like, go wild. I already mentioned the Frozen Berry exterior, but also check out the Blackberry (purple!) leather inside this car’s cabin. Seriously, this spec is so, so good. Every Taycan comes standard with Porsche’s latest infotainment tech on a touchscreen in the dash, as well as a digital gauge cluster behind the steering wheel and an additional screen for climate controls on the center console. This car has the optional passenger display, too, bringing the total number of screens up front to four, which sounds like it might be distracting, but is actually totally fine. The Taycan’s cabin tech is easy to learn and master.You can order the base Taycan with Porsche’s full suite of driver-assistance niceties, though as usual, all the best stuff costs extra. A surround-view monitor, lane-change assist, head-up display, night vision and adaptive cruise control are all costly add-ons. Porsche’s great InnoDrive tech that bundles adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist is available, as well, and it works great.The base Taycan with the bigger battery option could be the range queen of the lineup.
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So yeah, the base Taycan might start at $81,250, but no one’s driving one of these home without a bunch of stuff added on. Playing around on Porsche’s configurator suggests my German-spec pink pal has an as-tested price between $120,000 and $125,000, which is actually more expensive than a Taycan 4S with the Performance Battery.But does that matter in the grand scheme of things? Not really. In its first year on sale in the US, the Taycan proved to be a total hit for Porsche, outselling the Panamera, 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman — and keep in mind, that’s without being able to get in one for anything less than six figures. The base Taycan is simply the same great EV in a more affordable package.

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Tesla
Update, Jan 28: Late Wednesday evening, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter to answer everyone’s question of, “Where the hell is the new Model S’ shifter?” but his explanation just made things even more confusing. Musk says the car “guesses drive direction based on what obstacles it sees, context & nav map.” Basically, the Model S will determine whether to put itself into drive or reverse based on what its computers think is the driver’s intended direction of travel. Seems totally safe, right?
No more stalks. Car guesses drive direction based on what obstacles it sees, context & nav map. You can override on touchscreen.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2021

A new report from Electrek purports to have acquired internal documents from Tesla further explaining how the process works: The car “uses its Autopilot sensors to intelligently and automatically determine intended drive modes and select them. For example, if the front of Model S/X is facing a garage wall, it will detect this and automatically shift to Reverse once the driver presses the brake pedal.” Electrek added that the Model S would have force-sensitive touch controls on the center console under the wireless charging pad, but that doesn’t seem to be the case per another tweet from Musk. He said that drivers can manually override and shift the car themselves via the touchscreen, also adding that “after you drive without using a PRND stalk/stick for a few days, it gets very annoying to go back & use a shifter!”As we have said previously, we would ask Tesla for clarification on the issue, but the company no longer maintains a PR or communications department. Keep reading below for our original story.The Tesla Model S was updated with a totally new interior on Wednesday, and the most radical change is the new yoke-style steering “wheel,” which looks straight out of Knight Rider. But what might be even more radical is something that I can’t see: It seems like there’s no traditional PRNDL (Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, Low) gear selector or in-cluster indicator to say what gear you’re in.Up until now, you’d shift a Model S into gear via a column-mounted stalk borrowed from the Mercedes-Benz parts bin. (The Model 3, Model X and Model Y use the same stalk.) However, Tesla has eliminated all stalks from behind the updated Model S’ wheel, moving controls for the turn signals, horn and wipers to the yoke itself. So how exactly do you shift?There’s no PRNDL here.
Tesla
In all of the released images, the center console and dashboard are smooth and devoid of any sort of controls, save for the 17-inch touchscreen and the hazard warning light button that sits under the wireless charging pad below the screen. There’s nothing on the door panels or the headliner, either.The shifting controls could be found in that center screen, but there’s no visible evidence of that. The lower left corner of the screen shows controls for the climate control and the heated windshield, while the lower right corner displays media info. In the top left there’s an icon showing a top-down view of the car, so maybe the PRNDL is found there? But it seems like it would be extremely dangerous to keep such an essential function in a submenu of a digital display that could break.No PRNDL here either.
Tesla
Now there’s a chance that these CGI images are all at an angle that obscures the PRNDL shifter, or maybe they were rendered or edited to remove its location. The only mention from Tesla on the topic is this blurb under an image of the steering wheel on its website: “The ultimate focus on driving: no stalks, no shifting. Model S is the best car to drive, and the best car to be driven in.” That seems like an obvious reference to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, which is nothing of the sort.No matter how advanced you think Tesla’s Full Self-Driving tech is, the driver still needs to be able to put it the car in drive, reverse, neutral or park. In fact there are even laws on the books that mandate the order of the letters PRND and require that shifter position always be visible, as our friends at GearPatrol explain, and while I’m not sure if there is an actual law that requires a car have a shifter, it seems like there’s got to be.If this were any other car company, I could just call the public relations team for an explanation, but Tesla dissolved its PR department a few months ago. Guess I’ll just have to tweet at Elon Musk.
Refreshed Tesla Model S has a Knight Rider steering wheel
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First published on Jan. 27. More

Maybe the production Roadster will look more… roadster-y?
Tesla
With all the news about the Tesla Model S’ new interior (and that dumb new steering yoke), the Model X Plaid, the upcoming Cybertruck and even the company’s Full Self-Driving software, fans of the automaker are right to ask: Where the hell is the Roadster? It’s been more than three years since we first saw the new Tesla Roadster and, more importantly, since customers began forking over $50,000(!) deposits. But fear not, Tesla CEO Elon Musk says, the Roadster is still on the way.When asked about Tesla’s upcoming sports car on Thursday, CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the automaker “finished engineering this year” and that “production starts next year.” Musk says Tesla is “aiming to have [a] release candidate design drivable [by] late summer.”
Finishing engineering this year, production starts next year. Aiming to have release candidate design drivable late summer. Tri-motor drive system & advanced battery work were important precursors.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 28, 2021

Musk first confirmed the Roadster’s delay last spring. The hold-up is apparently due to the development of the tri-motor drive system and “advanced battery work,” according to Musk.When Tesla announced the second-generation Roadster in late 2017, it promised some pretty impressive specs. Accelerating to 60 mph is said to take less than 2 seconds and the car will be able to go 620 miles on a single charge. Of course, we’re taking all of that with a massive grain of salt, but perhaps we’ll have some more concrete data if and when a Roadster prototype arrives later this year.

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Just… no.
Tesla
Let me get this out of the way up top: I watched a lot of Knight Rider when I was a kid. I mean, a lot. As a child of the ’80s, I specifically remember pedaling my heart out on my BMX to make sure I got home in time to watch that iconic opening sequence. You probably know it by heart, with KITT poking his Cylon-aping nose out of the dusky desert. The show, terrible as I now realize it to be, was a significant part of my childhood. Back then I really, really wanted to be just like Michael Knight.Despite all that, I can’t help but see Tesla’s new KITT-style steering yoke as anything other than a bad idea. I fear it’ll not just be awkward to use, it’s potentially unsafe. Here’s why.
Refreshed Tesla Model S has a Knight Rider steering wheel
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Getting ratioedThe next time you’re in your car, count the number of times you need to turn the wheel to make it into a perpendicular parking spot. Better yet, try a U-turn. There’s a good chance at some point you’ll need to reposition your hands, in what’s typically called a shuffle-steer. Now, imagine doing that with only half a wheel. It’d be awkward at best. “But racecars,” you might be thinking. And indeed Formula One and many other forms of on-road racing feature steering wheels that look like oversized Batarangs. The thing is, those cars offer swift steering ratios, needing as little as 180 degrees of rotation to turn from the left-most steering extent to the right. Your average street car? Try 900 degrees of rotation from full left to right. That’s two and a half turns. More rotation means slower turning, yes, but it also means more precision and frankly greater safety. A razor-sharp steering rack is a great thing on the racetrack. On the highway, a tiny bump to the wheel would send you spearing across three lanes of traffic. For your average driver, that’s a risky proposition. Many companies have deployed steering racks that offer variable rates, changing based on speed and steering angle. Even at their quickest, though, these racks don’t eliminate the need to reposition your hands for common, daily maneuvers. On top of that, most of them have been panned for making cars feel less predictable and, ultimately, less fun to drive.I can get behind all the other tweaks, just not the most notable one. 
Tesla
Losing your gripEver hit a pothole and have the steering wheel slip in your hands? It’s disconcerting, but so long as your wheel is round (or D-shaped at least) you can quickly regrip the wheel. Now, imagine that happening on Tesla’s new steering yoke. At least one of your hands is going to be grasping at thin air.

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Breaking wrists, or facesImagine the above scenario but in a more serious situation, like a frontal or side impact. When the front wheels of a car are involved in the impact, the steering wheel can very forcefully twist in one direction or another. While it’s possible to get a sprained wrist or even a broken thumb if you’re gripping the wheel too hard, a round wheel will naturally shield your hands and the rest of your person from serious injury. The leading edge of a spinning yoke, on the other hand, has the potential to catch your hands, legs, or even your head if it’s a significant enough frontal impact. I’ve actually experienced this first-hand — literally. I have a yoke-shaped wheel on my sim rig and, on one of my first forays with my new Fanatec DD1 wheel base and formula-style wheel, I took my hands off after a minor impact. However, I didn’t realize the car hadn’t come to a complete stop. It bumped into the wall and spun the wheel, which caught me on the back of the hand. The impact hurt like hell and left me with a painful bruise, but it could have been a lot worse. ‘But full self-driving’Yes, perhaps a wheel like this will make a lot of sense in the future when cars can be fully trusted to drive themselves, to change lanes on their own and handle that three-point turn without any extra assistance. I’m sorry to say we’re not there yet, and assuming you’re buying a car that you’ll not only need to drive, but actually want to drive, this shape wheel just doesn’t make any sense.Now, I’ve spent a fair bit of time speaking with Tesla’s safety engineers about how they creatively solved many safety issues. That pronounced touchscreen on the Model 3 and Model Y
, for example, has edges that could be a problem in a crash. Tesla designed a special airbag with protrusions meant to keep the passenger’s head away from it. I’m sure there are similarly creative solutions to the problems this yoke presents, but that still leaves me wondering: Exactly what problem is it fixing? More

About that steering wheel…
Tesla
During its fourth-quarter earnings announcement on Wednesday, Tesla surprised everyone by unveiling the long-rumored refresh for its Model S sedan. (The Model X SUV received major updates as well.) On the outside, the Model S has features a new front bumper with slightly different air intakes, a tweaked rear diffuser and new 19- and 21-inch wheel designs. All of the exterior trim is now finished in black to match the Model Y, but the paint color palette remains the same, with white being the only no-cost option.The overhauled interior is the star of the show, though. It’s been completely redesigned, marking the Model S’ first major update since its debut way back in 2012. There’s a large 17-inch central screen much like that of the Model 3 and Model Y, but the orientation has changed — it’s horizontal instead of portrait. The S retains a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster in front of the driver, as well. Tesla says the new center screen is basically a gaming computer with 10 teraflops of processing power, and the released images show it running the popular fantasy RPG game Witcher 3.Exterior updates were kept to a minimum.
Tesla

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Most radical is the new steering wheel. It isn’t exactly a wheel anymore, instead looking like a yoke right out of Star Wars or Knight Rider. There are no stalks, either, meaning the turn signals, lights and other typical features are now controlled by touch buttons on the “wheel.”There’s more carbon fiber or wood trim covering parts of the dashboard and door panels, and the door cards have been redesigned and appear to feature much-needed additional storage space. The new center console also has more storage space and looks a lot nicer, and it has wireless charging for multiple devices. The rear seats look more sculpted and feature a new fold-down armrest with cupholders. Rear-seat passengers get an 8-inch screen that offers the same infotainment and gaming functions as the main screen, and it even works with wireless gaming controllers. The Model S has three-zone climate control, a 22-speaker audio system, heated seats all around (and ventilated front seats), ambient lighting and a glass roof as standard. White, black and beige remain the only interior color options.Rear-seat passengers get a screen for gaming, too.
Tesla
The Model S is now available in three different specs. The $79,990 Long Range version has two motors and all-wheel drive, with Tesla quoting a 3.1-second 0-to-60-mph time, a 155-mph top speed and a range of 412 miles. The $119,990 Plaid gains a third motor, “carbon-sleeved rotors” and torque vectoring. The Plaid has 1,020 horsepower boasts a 2.0-second 0-to-60 time (Tesla technically says 1.99 seconds), a 200-mph top speed and a 390-mile range.Then there’s the $139,990 Plaid Plus, which is the real big deal. Tesla says it has over 1,100 hp and will hit 60 mph in under 2 seconds. It also boats a sub-9-second quarter-mile time, a top speed of 200 mph and a range of over 520 miles. Tesla also says the Model S is now the most aerodynamic production car in the world, a claim likely achieved by the Plaid Plus modelThe only option besides color, trim and wheels is Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite of driver-assist systems, which costs $10,000. (Tesla’s basic Autopilot setup is standard.) The updated Model S is available to order now, with Tesla saying that estimated deliveries for the Long Range and Plaid models will begin in March. If you want the Plaid Plus model, you’ll be waiting until late 2021.
Refreshed Tesla Model S has a Knight Rider steering wheel
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Tesla
The Tesla Model S was updated with a totally new interior on Wednesday, and the most radical change is that new yoke-style steering “wheel,” which looks straight out of Knight Rider. But what might be even more radical is something that I can’t see: It seems like there’s no PRNDL shifter.Up until now, the Model S has shifted into gear via a column-mounted stalk swiped from the Mercedes-Benz parts bin. (The Model 3, Model X and Model Y use the same stalk.) But Tesla has eliminated all stalks from behind the new Model S’ wheel, moving controls for the turn signals, horn and wipers onto the yoke. So how exactly do you shift?There’s no PRNDL here.
Tesla
In all of the released images, the center console and dashboard are smooth and devoid of any sort of controls, save for the 17-inch touchscreen and the hazard warning light button that sits under the wireless charging pad below the screen. There’s nothing on the door panels or the headliner, either.The shifting controls could be found in that center screen, but there’s no visible evidence of that. The lower left corner of the screen shows controls for the climate control and the heated windshield, while the lower right corner displays media info. In the top left there’s an icon showing a top-down view of the car, so maybe the PRNDL is found there? But it seems like it would be extremely dangerous to keep such an essential function in a submenu of a digital display that could break.No PRNDL here either.
Tesla
Now there’s a chance that these CGI images are all at an angle that obscures the PRNDL shifter, or maybe they were rendered or edited to remove its location. The only mention from Tesla on the topic is this blurb under an image of the steering wheel on its website: “The ultimate focus on driving: no stalks, no shifting. Model S is the best car to drive, and the best car to be driven in.” That seems like an obvious reference to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, which does nothing of the sort.No matter how advanced you think Tesla’s Full Self-Driving tech is, the driver still needs to be able to put it the car in drive, reverse, neutral or park. In fact there’s even a law on the books that mandated the order of the letters PRND, as our friends at GearPatrol explain, and while I’m not sure if there is an actual law that requires a car have a shifter, it seems like there’s got to be.If this were any other car company, I could just call the public relations team for an explanation, but Tesla dissolved its PR department a few months ago. Guess I’ll just have to tweet at Elon Musk.
Refreshed Tesla Model S has a Knight Rider steering wheel
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The Model S is one slippery sedan.
Tesla
There’s a lot of new stuff to talk about when it comes to the Tesla Model S, which today received its most major update since it was first unveiled in 2012. It’s got a completely new interior with a crazy steering wheel, lots of updated tech and a Plaid Plus model that promises over 520 miles of range. But buried in the deluge of info is a new superlative that Tesla is claiming: The updated Model S is the most aerodynamic production car in the world, with a drag coefficient of just 0.208.Now there are a couple of technicalities here. Tesla doesn’t say which specific Model S achieves that 0.208 figure, whether it’s the Long Range or one of the Plaid models and if it’s with the 19- or 21-inch wheels. Given the Plaid Plus model claims a 520-mile range, it’s likely that one. That number also nicely rounds up to 0.21 — and that matches the Lucid Air’s claimed figure. Lucid hasn’t given a specific drag coefficient that goes beyond the second decimal place, so its 0.21 claim could perhaps have been rounded up. We’re not sure about that, but we are sure the aerodynamic one-upping won’t stop anytime soon. 
Refreshed Tesla Model S has a Knight Rider steering wheel
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The Model S also hasn’t technically entered production yet, so it’s not exactly the most aerodynamic car you can currently buy. (That would be the Porsche Taycan Turbo.) Tesla says first deliveries won’t begin until March for the Long Range or the Plaid, while the Plaid Plus won’t get to customers’ hands until late 2021. With Lucid Air deliveries set to commence in the next month or two, it could potentially still take and hang onto the aerodynamics crown, at least for a bit.Tesla also can’t claim that the Model S is the most aerodynamic production car ever, either. The General Motors EV1 and Volkswagen XL1 both boasted 0.19 drag coefficients, and the VW at the very least most definitely is considered a production car. Nevertheless, the Model S being the third most aerodynamic production car ever is still quite an impressive feat.The Model X SUV also received many of the same upgrades as the Model S, but with a 0.25 drag coefficient it already was the most aerodynamic SUV in the world. More

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