Porsche has motorsport embedded in its DNA.

Motorsport is part of the Porsche DNA and is integrated in the company like no other. It offers the best opportunities to test new technology and then transfer it into series production. And then there it is: motorsport technology on the road.

It's usually all in the details. Sometimes, it’s the air intakes at the front of the car, the special aerodynamics – how the air stream nestles around the body of the vehicle, offering it hardly any surface area to attack. Or state-of-the-art technologies inside the vehicle that lead to more PS, more kW and even more precise instruments. There's motorsport in every Porsche. Many technical refinements were developed for the racetrack: for Le Mans, for the Nürburgring – for GT and LMP1 – and now for Formula E. Since the end of 2019, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E team has been competing in Formula E with the Porsche 99X Electric – the first all-electric Porsche race car. One that represents a completely new technical development. Almost at the same time – in autumn 2019 – another all-electric Porsche was launched: the Taycan. A car made for the roads of today, with the technology of tomorrow. One for the race track, the other for the road. Which begs the question: how much of the Porsche 99X Electric has gone into the Taycan?

Energy recovery is not only key for sports cars built for the road – recuperation is also extremely important in Formula E races, which have energy limitations. It can be used to increase the available energy, which ultimately improves lap times. Recuperation in the 99X Electric takes place both during braking and in the "lift-off" phases. The driver can influence the behaviour of the recuperation via settings on the steering wheel, but can also manage it directly using the pedals. During qualifying, however, the pilot doesn't need to save energy; the pilot drives with maximum power output without needing to take range into consideration. Range, on the other hand, is extremely important for the Taycan. To increase this in addition to the net amount of energy from the battery, recuperation is of great importance: thanks to Porsche Recuperation Management, the driver always has this under control – and this doesn't just apply to a specific model; it's found throughout the entire series. The driver can set various recuperation levels via the steering wheel. The energy recovery naturally varies within the different driving modes – similar to the Porsche 99X Electric. During a race, the energy that can be used from the battery is limited to 52kWh. With this limited amount of energy, it is not possible to drive the whole race at full throttle. Therefore, energy must be used sparingly in order to produce the most efficient lap times. Software is constantly optimising the use of energy in real-time, enabling the pilot to compete consistently and quickly throughout the entire race without having to stop due to a lack of energy.

If you are interested in what connects the two cars, take a look at the inner values – the technical aspects of one car compared with those in the other. The system voltage is certainly one consideration here – 800 volts in both the Taycan and the Porsche 99X Electric. This is particularly innovative for the road vehicle as no comparable model with such a high system voltage has been available to date. And this is where that motorsport influence is really tangible for the driver: the 800 volts not only reduces the charging time, it also significantly increases the continuous output. Moreover, the cabling weight is reduced due to a smaller cable cross-section and installation space. The resulting reduction in weight brings further performance advantages. The two-tier performance battery of the Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S has a total capacity of up to 93.4kWh. And therefore, even more than the Porsche 99X Electric.

This is similar to the Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor. Both sports cars are equipped with it – in the series model E-Performance drive has one on the front and rear axles. This ensures superior driving dynamics and an all-wheel drive that always finds the perfect balance between dynamics and efficiency thanks to the different driving modes. The power output of the Porsche Taycan 4S, for example, is 320 kilowatts (435PS), with a maximum torque of 640 Newton metres with Launch Control. The same applies to the DCDC voltage converter: it is installed both in the Formula E car, to supply the low voltage consumers on board, and in the Taycan. Of course, both cars are equipped with a converter that very efficiently converts the high battery voltage into a significantly lower voltage for various electronic components. Exactly how this works in the Formula E race car remains the engineers' closely guarded secret.

It is impressive to see just how much of the state-of-the-art motorsport can be found in the new Porsche Taycan – technically and visually. And this makes one thing clear: Porsche stands for pushing the boundaries of motorsport development, which can also find a home in our series models. Regardless of the drive.

Taycan Turbo S: Electricity consumption combined kWh/100 km: 26,9; CO2 emissions combined in g/km: 0.