Porsche Taycan Turbo Range Much Higher Than EPA In Independent Test

Porsche commissioned the test before knowing what the EPA rating would be.

You may have heard that the EPA’s official range rating for the Porsche Taycan Turbo is a bit on the low side. In fact, it came back at just 201 miles, which is far cry from the Euro-spec WLTP rating of 279 miles. It even dips below conservative estimates for the U.S. that placed the EV super sedan in the 212 to 250-mile range. The plot thickens even further, as Porsche actually commissioned an independent test to gauge the Taycan Turbo’s real-world range. As you might expect, those figures are considerably higher than the EPA rating.

If that sounds retaliatory and a bit suspicious on Porsche’s part, you’re not alone. Jalopnik first reported on this subject, pointing to statistics from California-based AMCI Testing that show ranges more in line with Europe’s WLTP 279-mile figure. We had more questions than answers, so we dialed up Porsche and learned that this testing wasn’t retaliatory at all. In fact, it was conducted long before there was even a whiff of EPA results for the Taycan.

“We had AMCI do testing beforehand,” explained Porsche Spokesperson Calvin Kim. “We do a lot of testing with third-party vendors for various things such as performance figures, fuel economy, interior noise, all kinds of different metrics. We actually started this process months ago, specifically because in Europe the WLTP test uses a different methodology altogether from EPA. We didn’t know exactly what the car was going to get, and we don’t like being in that position so we commissioned a company to get that number for us to better understand real-world performance.”

According to AMCI Testing’s website, the Taycan Turbo achieved 288 miles on a single charge in city driving, and 275 miles in a combination of city and highway driving. The testing process involved driving a Taycan Turbo over two specific routes during weekdays at the same time of day, with the car set to Normal mode and accessory loads consistent throughout the drives on the city/highway loop. Speeds were “precisely coordinated” to match the speed of traffic flow up to the legal limit, and even 5 mph over the limit on highways. The city test loop saw the Taycan Turbo in Range mode with the HVAC system turned off and speeds coordinated with traffic.

So what gives with the difference between the EPA’s rating and those from AMCI and WLTP? The folks at MyEV. com explain the EPA testing procedure, which doesn’t actually take vehicles out on the road. Testing is federally mandated and conducted in a lab on a chassis dyno where various real-world conditions are simulated for city and highway driving. It’s a vastly different process, but laboratory testing can eliminate variables to provide a more accurate, apples-to-apples comparison between vehicles.

Contact information wasn’t readily available for AMCI, but we do have a message into the company asking for a comment on the results. According to its website, AMCI Testing has evaluated 4,000 cars and conducted 250,000 tests over the course of 30 years, and is monitored by the FTC. The website further states that none of its claims have been overturned.

As for Porsche, the automaker had no comment on the EPA results, aside from acknowledging it will be the figure printed on the Taycan Turbo’s window sticker. Beyond that, Porsche is confident in the results of AMCI Testing's evaluation.

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