Porsche Taycan 2022 review: Turbo Cross Turismo

Though Porsche’s all-electric Taycan range launched in early 2021 with the sedan, it has since expanded its offerings to include the Cross Turismo wagon.

Our test car is the flagship Turbo Cross Turismo, and yes, we know how weird it is to name a car after a component it doesn’t even have!

Porsche’s reasoning is that in their parlance, Turbo means faster than 4 and 4S, as with the 911, so you can just think of this as the really fast one.

The Turbo Cross Turismo features 20-inch wheels (image: Tung Nguyen).

The 2022 Taycan Cross Turismo range starts at $176,600, before on-road costs for the 4, while the 4S is priced at $205,300.

Unlike the Taycan sedan, there is no Turbo S available for the Cross Turismo, making this Turbo the flagship for now, and it's priced at $279,000.

Standard equipment includes 20-inch wheels, 'LED Matrix' headlights, four-zone climate control, rear privacy glass, a heated steering wheel, electronically-adjustable seats, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, a head-up display, keyless entry, push-button start, leather interior and a powered tailgate.

Standard equipment includes 'LED Matrix' headlights (image: Tung Nguyen).

Being an electric car, the interior is also kitted out with screens literally everywhere, including a 16.8-inch digital instrument cluster, a 10.9-inch multimedia screen and an 8.4-inch climate control touch display.

Even passengers can get in on the action, with a 10.9-inch display optionally available for $2150, while rear occupants have a 5.9-inch screen to control temperature and fan speed.

The multimedia system comes equipped with satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, a 14-speaker Bose sound system, digital radio and online connectivity.

Being an electric car, the interior is also kitted out with screens literally everywhere (image: Tung Nguyen).

Being a bleeding-edge Porsche, there are also a number of notably cool features such as a pre-heating/cooling system, thermally insulated glass and keyless drive that will automatically start the car once it detects the key.

Our test car is also fitted with a vast array of options, including rear-axle steering, a fixed panoramic roof, Porsche’s 'Electric Sport Sound' and LED courtesy lights, adding nearly $45,000 to the asking price.

Our test car rings up the till at $323,190, which is substantial, but there aren’t any rivals in the premium, all-electric, sporty wagon space.

Sports cars aren’t known for their generous space, but wagons are designed to lug loads without any fuss. So, can the Porsche Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo successfully marry those two opposing concepts? Sort of.

Up in the front seats, you get decent head, shoulder and legroom, but the seats are low-slung like a sports car.

Up in the front seats, you get decent head, shoulder and legroom (image: Tung Nguyen).

Storage options aren’t that plentiful, with a narrow door pocket, two cupholders, and a shallow underarm storage space, but there is a hidden tray here behind the climate controls for your wallet and keys.

The rear seat is tight, especially with the optional sports seats, a $1000 addition, but even six-foot (183cm) tall adults should find it comfortable enough in the two outboard positions.

The rear seat is tight, especially with the optional sports seats (image: Tung Nguyen).

The middle seat, though, is compromised by a narrow base and limited leg room, but doubles as a fold-down armrest with cupholders when not in use.

The only other storage solution in the second-row is small door pockets that will accommodate water bottles.

There are however, ISOFIX child anchorage points in the rear, which means baby seats can be fitted, and even with the seat in the rear-facing position, there is still plenty of room for front passengers.

The door aperture is also plenty big, making it easy to take the little bub in and out.

Opening the boot reveals enough space to swallow 405 litres of volume, which isn’t as cavernous as most wagons out there (the Skoda Octavia RS wagon features 640L of storage space, for example) but it is plenty for a pram, groceries and a nappy bag.

Opening the boot reveals enough space to swallow 405 litres of volume.

Take note, though, that the household charging cable does eat up a fair amount of space, so be prepared to leave that at home when transporting large objects, or to make do with the DC fast-charging cable that's tucked under the boot floor.

Fold the seats down and volume swells to 1171L, which still lags significantly behind other wagons, so don’t expect to be helping with Ikea trips in the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo.

Being an electric car, the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo also sports a storage cubby under the bonnet, which is enough for just 84L – or a backpack or two.

The Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo also sports a storage cubby under the bonnet.

Overall, the Cross Turismo is more practical than the sedan, but not in a way that many might expect from a wagon.

Don’t get us wrong, it’s certainly usable in day-to-day activities, even when carting around a one-year-old baby. But the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo isn’t a Tardis for space like big-booted versions of the Mazda6, Skoda Octavia or Volkswagen Golf.

Under the bonnet you’ll find not much of anything at all, and that’s because the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo is an all-electric model.

The two electric motors, one each on the front and rear axles, giving the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo all-wheel drive traction, and a staggering combined output of up to 500kW/850Nm.

Okay, to be fair the 500kW is only available when using launch control, with 460kW the peak in most scenarios, but it’s still a sizeable number that should make any sports car envious.

Unlike most EVs the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo features a single-speed automatic transmission on the front axle, and a two-speed unit on the rear axle, designed to maximise its performance potential.

This is enough to accelerate the car from 0-100km/h in just 3.3 seconds, keeping pace with some of the fastest production cars in Australia.

With a sizeable 93.4kWh battery in tow, the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo boasts a lengthy driving range of 425 kilometres, but, as is often the case, reality can be disappointing.

With a full charge, and air conditioning on, our readouts showed about 410km of range, which isn’t too far off the claimed figure and more than enough for our week's worth of driving.

What is cool, though, is that the Taycan has charging ports on either side, the left with DC fast-charging capabilities, making it easy to juice up no matter how you’ve parked.

Recharge times from five to 80 per cent are as low as 22 and a half minutes when connected to a DC charger with maximum outputs, while a 50kW DC charger needs around 93 minutes to recoup the same level of juice.

Plugging into an 11kW AC charger – like the outlet you might have at home – will require about nine hours to go from zero to 100 per cent.

Plugging into an 11kW AC charger will require about nine hours to go from zero to 100 per cent.

Official energy consumption figures for the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo are 28.7kWh per 100 kilometres, while we managed to better the claimed figure and achieve just 24.5kWh/km in our week with the car.

In those seven days we covered a mix of suburban, freeway and country B-road driving, making the better-than-advertised energy consumption figure even more impressive.

Like all new Porsche’s sold in Australia, the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo comes with a three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which trails the segment leading Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Jaguar and Genesis that serve up five-year assurance periods.

Like all new Porsche’s sold in Australia, the Turbo Cross Turismo comes with a three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty (image: Tung Nguyen).

However, Porsche matches warranties offered by Audi and BMW.

The battery in the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo is covered by an eight-year/160,000-kilometre warranty.

Scheduled service intervals are every 24 months or 30,000 kilometres, whichever occurs first.

Porsche is yet to make available service pricing for the Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo, but its maintenance schedule is longer than the usual 12 months/15,000km for most cars.