Porsche is continuing to mark itself as one of the most modern automotive companies, this time by offering up the ability to buy your sparkly new car online.
The luxury car company is taycan (get it?) a page out of Tesla’s book once again, offering a similar online-buying service which Tesla offers.
Engadget reports that Porsche is trying out online-purchases for its cars throughout the US, which Engadget notes is a strikingly similar practice to how you can pick up a Tesla. Would-be Porsche owners can buy cars from around 25 of the US’s 191 independently owned Porsche dealerships.
Both new and pre-owned cars will be offer, much like what Tesla does, you can also fill out the majority of the documentation and payment information online. In fact, the only thing that needs doing in person is going to the dealership for the final signature and collection of the car.
The Porsche Taycan unveiling
Tesla has long-since offered up its cars through an online system. Unlike Porsche’s fledgling service, Teslas can be totally customised online rather than selecting from pre-existing models (which is also possible).
Telsas also can be delivered to the owners’ home, provided the owner lives close enough to a Tesla service centre.
Tesla’s online-buying interface
Porsche made headlines this year for unveiling its hotly anticipated line up of electric vehicles, which at the time of writing comes in the form of the super futuristic Taycan. To many the Taycan is the first noteworthy threat to Telsa’s selection of EVs, notably the Model S saloon.
Is the Porsche Taycan going to be the Tesla-killer?
Porsche is offering up three different Taycans that we know of: the Turbo, Turbo S and the 4S. The Taycan family starts with the 4S, coming in at around US $103,800, along with the Turbo and Turbo S at around US $153,000 and US $187,000 respectively. For reference, a Tesla Model S Performance starts at around US $99,900, though Telsa is rolling out a series of more affordable cars including the Model 3 and Model Y. There’s even a possible Tesla submarine…
The ‘affordable’ Taycan 4S
Elon Musk’s Tesla has long since been king of the castle in the EV game. According to stats from Cleantechica, 75% of all electric vehicles sold in the US in the first quarter of 2019 were Teslas. It also turns out that Tesla holds 80% of the electric vehicle market share.
The Tesla Model S
Even before the release of the Taycan line, which is expected sometime in 2020, Porsche and Tesla have been trading blows on their respective EVs.
When Porsche sent out a souped-up Taycan to the infamous Nürburgring track in Germany, setting a world record time for a saloon, Tesla was quick to send a modified Tesla S to snatch the record. Times at Nürburgring are a way car companies can make a statement about the performance and engineering of their vehicles. The Taycan sped around the track in 7:42 but Tesla swung back saying its prototype ‘Plaid’ model did the course 20 seconds faster.
Click here to find out what happened when the Taycan and Model S had a drag race!
