The much-anticipated new Porsche Taycan has smashed the electric sedan lap record at Germany’s iconic Nürburgring Nordschleife race track, eclipsing the Tesla Model S Plaid by over 17 seconds. Porsche development driver Lars Kern achieved the feat, posting a lap time of 7:07.55 minutes on the Nordschleife, a performance that bettered his previous best, in a Taycan Turbo S Sport sedan in 2022, by over 26 seconds.
“Twenty-six seconds is half an eternity in motorsport. Lars’ lap time of 7:07.55 minutes on the Nordschleife is sensational, putting the Taycan in the same league as electric hypercars,” head of the model line, Kevin Giek said. “And the impressive thing about it is that over several laps, Lars clocked almost exactly the same time.”
While Kern’s efforts in the as-yet-unreleased Porsche Taycan fell short of claiming the title of fastest electric production car to ever hit Nürburgring Nordschleife, he did come mighty close. His lap time was just two seconds off the EV record, which currently belongs to the $3.2 million Rimac Nevera hypercar. Nevertheless, the performance of the updated Taycan has reignited interest in the beloved EV lineup, adding further speculation surrounding its prospective release.
Porsche is yet to confirm the production schedule for the new Taycan, however, the new vehicle is widely expected to wear the Turbo GT badging. Speculation has also been rife that the upgraded release may boast up to 735kW from three electric motors. Considering the hot lap was quicker than the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS, it’s not hard to see where the rumours stem from.
At present, the Taycan is one of Porsche’s best-selling vehicles, representing the marque’s most impressive foray into electrification yet. The automaker confirmed that the upgraded prototype was fitted with a roll cage and bucket seats per legal requirements, claiming that it was “a good 25 km/h faster heading into the Schwedenkreuz” than the Taycan before it.
“To illustrate the difference further, by the time Kern crossed the finish line near Grandstand 13 (T13), he would have only just been passing the entrance to the Nordschleife, about to enter the Antoniusbuche section, during his record drive in the Taycan Turbo S in 2022,” Porsche said in a statement. “This put the distance between the pre-series Taycan and the current Turbo S at more than 1.3 kilometres – a figure that illustrates the leap in performance achieved on the 20.8 km course in Germany’s Eifel region.”
Porsche has confirmed that a full video of the seven-minute lap with development driver Lars Kern behind the wheel will be released in March. Until then, fans will eagerly await further details surrounding the as-yet-unnamed new Porsche Taycan variant, with reports suggesting information could drop as early as February.
