Even before the Porsche Taycan was unveiled, our first peek at what Porsche’s first all-electric car would be like was the Mission E, followed by the Mission E Cross Turismo. Now that the Mission E has taken shape as the Taycan, hot on its heels is the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo. It gets a more wagon-like body, more space on the inside, trick electronics to keep it going when the going gets (a little) rough and a beefier body kit.
The Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo is still a Taycan so styling hasn’t changed too much, but there are quite a few differences to help you spot one among a sea of the others. The front bumper gets a more pronounced lip at the bottom that is swept up on each end. There’s a similar treatment to the diffuser at the rear and there’s even chunky plastic cladding down the side and around the wheel arches. Porsche claims that all this isn’t purely cosmetic, if you spec the Off-Road Design package the extensions on the sills protect your Rs 2 lakh+ Special paintwork against stone chips. Perhaps a more significant change is the roofline which slopes down less and the roof-mounted spoiler makes it look more like a wagon and less like a four-door coupe. And that’s a good thing because the Taycan Cross Turismo looks unbelievably cool, with its raised suspension and the new alloy wheels (which have more than a passing resemblance to the design of the original Lamborghini Gallardo’s rims), both of which add to the more rugged appeal of the Cross Turismo.
To enhance that appeal further, Porsche will sell you a range of accessories including a bike carrier — and there’s two new e-bikes inspired by the Taycan that you can mount on them. In my opinion a must have option is the roof box now available as a performance model too which is rated for speeds up to 200kmph.
There’s fewer changes on the inside, with the most significant one being a compass mounted atop the dashboard if you spec the aforementioned Off-Road Design package. The Cross Turismo retains the future-forward approach of the standard Taycan with a fully-digital instrument cluster and a 10.9-inch central infotainment display.
Porsche has continually expanded the Taycan lineup since launch with multiple performance ratings for the motors and an all-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive flow to the electric energy. The Cross Turismo on the other hand will be available exclusively in all-wheel-drive form thanks to two electric motors — one on either end paired to a two-speed transmission. Outputs will vary according to the variants, with the Taycan 4 Cross Turismo producing 469bhp and 500Nm with a maximum WLTP-tested range of 456km; the Taycan 4S Cross Turismo produces 564bhp, 650Nm and has a maximum WLTP-tested range of 452km; the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo produces 670bhp, 850Nm and has a maximum WLTP-tested range of 452km as well. Finally there’s the Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo which puts out 750bhp, a colossal 1050Nm of torque and has a maximum WLTP-tested range of 419km. Keep in mind that all of the output figures are rated for the overboost, in normal driving the power is reduced.
The Cross Turismo inherits the 800V charging architecture for the two-deck, 93.4kWh Performance Battery Plus which is standard on all variants of the Cross Turismo. So, if you find the right charger and the right conditions, the Cross Turismo can juice up 100km of range in just five minutes.
The Taycan Cross Turismo comes standard with the three-chamber adaptive air suspension and PASM (Porsche Active Stability Management) — an electric damper control system. The air suspension also gets Smartlift as standard which allows drivers to set certain points where the car automatically raises its suspension, useful for a steep parking entrance or a rather fat sleeping policeman.
Exclusive to the Taycan Cross Turismo is the gravel driving mode which alters the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM), Porsche Traction Management (PTM), Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV+) and the Porsche Stability Management (PSM). Porsche has explicitly stated that this mode is for ‘gravel tracks or muddy road surfaces’. Nope, you can’t go rock crawling in your Taycan Cross Turismo although the suspension in Gravel mode is 30mm raised when compared to the standard Taycan.
The Taycan Cross Turismo should prove to be a more popular choice for more customers thanks to the added versatility, even if the additions aren't much. Porsche has confirmed that the standard Taycan will be making its way to India, and when it does, we expect it to be priced at Rs 1.4 crore for the base RWD variant. And while the Taycan Cross Turismo hasn’t been confirmed for India, Porsche hasn’t held back from bringing its shiniest, newest models to India which means the Cross Turismo could also make its way to our shores, with a price tag in the ballpark of Rs 1.6-1.8 crore. This puts it right in the crosshairs of SUVs like the Mercedes-Benz EQC, priced at Rs 1.4 crore, however the added ground clearance of the Taycan Cross Turismo, the slightly more upright stance, along with the Porsche badge, should make it a hot-seller in the luxury EV segment if it comes here.