The first all-electric Porsche Taycan, a real alternative to the Tesla Model S that has ruled the large luxury electric sedan market, has rolled off the production line in Stuttgart, Germany.
The pricing for the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo and Turbo S starts at US$150,900 for the Turbo and $$185,000 for the Turbo S if you reserve a model now. Both figures do not include US$1,350 for destination. When the car officially launches, the starting price tag for the Turbo will increase to US$153,310 and the Turbo S to US$187,610, according to CNet.
The first Porsche Taycan was rolled out of its very own factory in the Zuffenhausen district of Stuttgart on September 9. However, it was revealed, there was a price the factory’s workers and management had to pay to ensure it was build in Stuttgart.
“It would be much more easier to build (the factory) somewhere in the middle of nowhere.”
A new Taycan factory in Stuttgart wasn’t the original plan.
“It’s all about finance,” Porsche’s spokesman for human resources, Matthias Rauter, said. “It would be much more easier to build (the factory) somewhere in the middle of nowhere.”
The Zuffenhausen plant is where Porsche builds its iconic 911. It is where the 356, Porsche’s first sports car, was produced in 1950.
The workers insisted “The Taycan has to be built in Zuffenhausen, at the heart of Porsche,” Rauter said.
So a remarkable deal was struck, with 25,000 workers initially agreeing to forgo 0.25% of all their scheduled wage increases between 2017 and 2025, under the condition that it eventually be paid back. Certain Stuttgart-based management and board members agreed to give up 0.5% of their scheduled salary increases, with no guarantee that the money would be reimbursed. The salary sacrifice paid for 25% of the 700 million Euro needed to build a facility for the Porsche Taycan.
“It was the idea of the works council,” Rauter said. “At the end, they are in a better position than before.”
Rauter said that, starting in 2021 and ending in 2030, employees who participate in this program will receive annual paybacks of 760 euros. In all, the program is designed to give the workers all of their money back, with compound interest of 0.03%. The initial 25,000 workers has now swelled to 34,000 workers today.
- All Taycans have a glass roof giving 100% UV protection
- Free first 30 minutes of charge time for three years at Electrify America
- The Taycan will race to 60 mph (100 kmh) in 3 seconds
- The Taycan Turbo S goes from 0-6 mph (100 kmh) in 2.6 seconds
The Porsche Taycan is just one part of a 6 billion euro investment made by Porsche to spearhead electric mobility initiatives to 2022.
Winfried Kretschmann, minister-president of Baden-Württemberg, the state where Stuttgart is located, said at the factory opening: “To Elon Musk, news from Baden-Württemberg: With green ideas, you can be in the black, not the red.”
