Smaller batteries don’t provide enough range
Bigger batteries impact handling and create more pollution
The improvement of the public charging infrastructure means the lower range is not a massive problem
Porsche is convinced 100 kilowatt-hours is the ideal size of battery to use in its electric vehicles, unlike many manufacturers who are developing bigger units.
According to the automaker, the advantages associated with bigger battery packs, namely a longer range and better sustained performance are not enough to counteract the disadvantages they come with.
Indeed, bigger batteries weigh more, which can affect the driving dynamics of the vehicle, they cost more and they create much more pollution to make.
In tests carried out on the Nürburgring, a Taycan powered by an 85.1 kWh battery completed a lap 0.7 seconds quicker than a Taycan fitted with a 70-kWh battery due to better sustained performance, but when a 100-kWh or a 130-kWh pack was installed, the weight became too much and the lap times increased.
Since Porsche is known for making agile cars with great driving dynamics, increasing the weight to improve the range doesn’t make sense, especially when 95% of drivers don’t travel more than 124 miles (200 kilometers) per day, according to the automaker.
Another reason to limit battery size is the pollution created by the mining, transport and assembly required to create a new battery pack.
Currently, making the battery accounts for 40% of all emissions produced by the manufacturing process of the Porsche Taycan.
This is the same level of pollution that would be generated by driving and charging the car for its whole lifecycle. In other words, making only the battery for a Taycan creates as much pollution as the car will produce itself over 15 years of regular driving.
Porsche is confident the environmental aspect combine with the improved performance and the expansion of the public charging network will justify its point of view in the eyes of the buyers.
