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Welcome to part two of my road trip video, where I drive my 2021 CPO Porsche Taycan 4S from
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the LA area back home to Seattle.
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My first day was ambitious. I flew standby at 6 AM, arriving in Ontario, California. I finished
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the deal and get a deep tutorial. Had burgers with a promising actor. These fries, though,
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in and out, come on. Then finally, in mid-afternoon, I started north to the Emerald City. I found
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Electrify America is actually pretty good with plug-in charge. Well, what do you know? It works.
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And got as far as Woodland, California, just outside of Sacramento at around 1.30 AM. So that's
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about 460 miles with no charging issues. So far so good. The trip is as smooth as
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the Taycans powertrain. But here's the thing. I got into Woodland with the Porsche
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running on the equivalent of a couple D-cell batteries. Hey, Porsche, I need a charging station.
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So it's time to find some electricity. I'm not too worried. I've run batteries down further than
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this. There must be some pad when the pack hits zero. Porsche, route planner, do your thing.
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County Fair Fashion Mall, 50kW in Woodland. Would you like to start route guidance?
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Yes, 50kW. Woodland, California is no EV hotspot, and this is the fastest terminal close by.
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It does not support plug-in charge, but the old-fashioned credit card reader actually works.
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Not always a guarantee. This is the closest I come to have any real issue on the trip.
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50kW is not very fast. All you Chevy Pult owners know that. At least the terminal is
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delivering at pretty much the advertised rate. There are hotels that have overnight charging,
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oftentimes they're Tesla level two, which is why I brought this electron adapter along.
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Unfortunately, I couldn't use it. I knew that yesterday was going to be very unpredictable.
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I didn't know where I was going to end up, so I couldn't make a reservation.
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While there aren't any super speedy chargers here, I can just juice up at this slower one
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so I can get to the next one. Maybe this was fate. Since a couple pulled up in a very used Nissan
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Leaf that they got at auction that morning, and they had no idea how to charge it,
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so I earned a Boy Scout badge helping them out. Even at 50kW, I get nearly half a charge
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between that assist and returning some emails. All I needed was 25 miles to get me to a fast 350kW
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charger, but hey, time flies. Does it take longer to travel in an EV? Yes, it does, but I'm actually
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finding things to do when I stop. All right, let's motor. Please follow I-5 north for 64 miles.
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And these are motors, not engines. Merging power?
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That is so great. And this is in normal mode. I'm not even in sport mode.
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The 4S is hardly the fastest Icon, but it's the sweet spot, and it's plenty
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quick with 0-60 time around 4 seconds. Speed? Well, when I planned this trip, I figured I was
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going to keep it around 70 miles an hour for best efficiency to see what this could do,
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but then I got in it. It's a Porsche. It wants to go fast, so I have been going faster.
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I'm not going to admit to anything. I'm not going to incriminate myself.
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I-5 is a major west coast arterial. There are a lot of large trucks and construction.
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It's not just charging that can slow your trip down.
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I get to use traffic jam assist again.
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It does make the best of a bad situation. I would like to compliment the person that
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originally specced this car out. They live in Florida. This leather, the upgraded stuff,
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also the Bermister audio system is rich and punchy. It pairs very well with the optional glass,
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which is insulated, plus mission e-wheels, right? That is the chef's kiss. I'm glad I held
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out for mission e-wheels. I love those things. Charging to only 80 or 90 percent, I'm not getting
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a full understanding of my range. I'll calculate that later. I've easily seen 260 miles on
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tycons that I've had from the press fleet. Route guidance is working pretty well. It is
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on the conservative side. Generally, when you're road tripping long distances with an EV,
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you try to work the bottom of the battery. That is, drain it down to 5 percent, then charge to 80
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percent, and then move on down the road, charge again, lather, rinse, repeat. It's the fastest way
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to cover ground. At nothing other than highway speeds, and let's face it, I'm not driving 55
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miles an hour. It's less efficient than driving in the city. I'm basically hitting
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charging stations every 180 miles or so, not charging to 100 percent. I'm just doing what the
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route planner tells me to do. I would like some terminal information and a larger font. It's
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pretty small. I coast into the next stop with 30 miles of range left. I'm getting used to this.
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I have zero, and I do mean no concerns about getting stranded. And if I do,
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the CPO program comes with two years of free roadside assistance. I don't want to try that out.
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Also, say what you will about EA stations. I'm batting a thousand on every visit. Plug-in
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charge has been seamless, and I've hit 350 kilowatt units every time. I should have brought
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some bug remover. There's often public charging at stores like Target and Walmart. I went in,
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used the bathroom, could have got lunch or a snack. But I grabbed it from Holiday Inn,
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like we all do. Right? Do that for 10 years, and you can afford a Porsche. During this charge,
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I saw as high as 205 kilowatts. Like every session on this journey, I get busy with things.
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And suddenly, I'm way past 80 percent, the point where all EVs slow down substantially.
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On the whole, it's not worth sticking around longer. Work the bottom of the battery when traveling.
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It puts into focus how little time it takes to charge. I just dashed in for a cup of coffee,
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and, you know, got rid of the one before. Plus, this Rivian needs my position because
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of the cable reach. It's time for me to head out. Thing is, the general rule is when people are
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waiting for a plug, and you're at 80 percent, you really should leave. So it was time for me to go.
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I'll admit, this is kind of a boring route. I wish I could take the back roads, but
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this is my first real long-distance trip in an EV, and I didn't want to chance it.
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The infrastructure along the interstates is much better. I'm really not having any issues.
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I forgot how soothing road trips can be, especially in this car. The Taycan experience
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is even better than I remember. Wish you could all experience it.
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People talk about German cars having that great German feel.
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Taycan absolutely defines that phrase. The chassis is vault solid. The steering is direct.
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It has a nice hefty feel to it. I love the way I can see the fender bulge in front of me.
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This is a terrific experience. Well worth the money, even though it is a lot of money.
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One quibble I've always had with the Taycan is the center console. If you're trying to get something
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out while you're driving, it's darn near impossible. I hope the 2025, which has been redesigned, fixes
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that. I checked. It's the same, and everyone complains about it. I have a lot of experience
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with electric vehicles. I've done some road tripping in them, and I know that these are not
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for everyone. I always say for the best experience, you need to be able to charge where you sleep,
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mostly because it's a lot less expensive. But the reality is, so far, I'm really not having
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any issues. Yeah, it is taking more time. But part of it is I'm doing all this video production.
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That's taking time too. I'm going to guess that it's adding two and a half hours to this trip.
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Time for charge session number four and a half. I'm only counting the EV Go session at 50%.
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This is another Walmart Electrify America. I've now been to more Walmart's in a day
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than the past two years. It doesn't have a presence in Seattle. Like the other terminals,
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it's fast. I've rolled in at 27 miles. I'll hammer home. I have not been an EA fan in the past.
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Either I'm lucky or performance has improved exponentially, and I am not being sponsored
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by the company either. The charge speed is the second quickest I've observed on the trip.
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What do we have coming up behind me? Is this a C5 Corvette?
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I think so. Yeah. Nice. Yes, you too.
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License plate is Little Red Corvette. Shortened. This is a long drive. Let me tell you a story.
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I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota. Love the place. You really don't see many exotic cars,
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or at least you didn't back in the 70s. And one day, my friends and I were riding our bikes on
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Highway 2 between Duluth and to Harbors, the site of Grandma's Marathon for you runners out there.
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And I heard this other worldly sound from behind me. And before I could even check,
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this blue streak went bolting past us, and we were all very impressed as, you know, young boys are.
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And a couple miles up the road in the parking lot of Betty's Pies, still there, still good,
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was a Porsche 928. I was always into cars. I didn't even know what that was.
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And the guy was nice enough to show it to us. It was really cool. And then later,
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I saw a 911 Turbo, the first generation with the whale tail. It was in Chestnut Brown,
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parked by Aero Chevrolet on Superior Street for all you Duluthians out there.
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It was amazing. It looked like nothing I had ever seen. Certainly not like a Mustang or a
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Camaro. So I knew there was something special about the brand. Never dreamed that I'd own one. So
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kind of feeling lucky these days. Teenager me would have been thrilled to know this was in my
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future. I'm now going through the siscues. The roads are finally getting fun, reminding me why
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I love this car so much. It would be great if charging stations had window cleaners.
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The bugs are adding up. Jim, you mean the Porsche? Yes, I will be here. But even if I weren't,
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I would be here. Let me know what time. I texted my editor from the New York Times that I was
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driving up I-5 in the Porsche and he lives near Portland and asked if he wanted to see it.
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So that was that message. I got a late start after sleeping in. It would mean getting into Seattle
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at 2 a.m. I decide to crash at Jim's new place, which requires one more juice up. And I experience
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the only hiccup of the trip. The Porsche planner sends me off to the middle of nowhere,
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only to route me to a Tesla station. Searching for a different one, it insists I drive 30 miles south
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and I don't want to do that. I reboot the system and it finds an EA station three blocks away.
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Again, the only miss of the trip, but fixed. And my first fast food meal, Dairy Queen.
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There are very few of those in Seattle, so this is always a treat. I end up rolling into
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Portland around 10 p.m. Day three. Jim's new place is amazing. And not just because he has
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a level two charger that I can mooch, I take on 70 kilowatts of electricity overnight, a full charge.
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I can finally do a real range test. And Jim is a fellow car guy. I think this pretty much says
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it all. I thank Jim for his hospitality and head home. In a quarter of a mile, keep left onto I-5
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north towards Seattle. Must be German for Seattle, just three hours north now. The Tycon 4S is rated
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at somewhere in the neighborhood of 230 miles. And Porsche famously underrates that.
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So I'm driving 75, 80 miles an hour average and, you know, having some fun here and there.
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And I'm actually nailing about 230. So in a fairly inefficient scenario,
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temperatures in the 60s, this is doing pretty well. And I'm easily finding charging stations.
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In total, the Tycon is taken on 392 kilowatt hours of electricity. That's $216 closer to $250
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if I didn't get a free fill at Jim's place. I covered 1,230 miles. Driving in a gas powered car,
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let's pick Porsche's Panamera since it's similar in form factor to Tycon. Fuel would have cost
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the same, $250 with premium averaging $5.50. Home charging, electricity costs would be a lot less
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around 45 bucks to cover 1,200 miles. And yeah, the ICE car would have cut time off the trip.
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Total DC fast charging time was just under three hours. But I had a great time playing with my new
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toy. Charging didn't bother me at all. I used some of that time to get things done. Plus I enjoyed
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getting to know my car and still kind of pinching myself as I wheel into the Emerald City.
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It's at this point, I must defend myself. I did all sorts of research, even figuring out
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how much the difference in insurance would cost between a 4S and a Turbo or Turbo S, by the
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way it's significant. I even measured my garage. I really did. Theoretically, the Tycon fits. A little
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tight, but the numbers worked out. However, with the car in my possession and eyeballing the
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opening of the cave here, I'm not going in without a spotter. Time to consult a structural
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engineer to see if the wing walls can be cut away. Time for its first Seattle bath and get those
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bugs off the front. I'm going to be doing a lot of stories with this vehicle in the next year or two.
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It's one of the reasons why I bought it. So I can show you what the CPO experience is like,
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how much it costs to maintain. This is a Porsche. I'm kind of curious myself,
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plus a lot of other stuff. Also, I do car reviews, if you didn't know, very highly regarded. So check
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those out. In the meantime, subscribe, click notifications, follow me on social media. I'm on
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threads and Blue Sky now. And if you have a question, leave it in the comments. I'll get
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back to you. That's Driven. I'm Tom Bulk.
