Porsche Taycan 4S Road Trip LA to Seattle (Part Two)

Welcome to part two of my road trip video, where I drive my 2021 CPO Porsche Taycan 4S from

the LA area back home to Seattle.

My first day was ambitious. I flew standby at 6 AM, arriving in Ontario, California. I finished

the deal and get a deep tutorial. Had burgers with a promising actor. These fries, though,

in and out, come on. Then finally, in mid-afternoon, I started north to the Emerald City. I found

Electrify America is actually pretty good with plug-in charge. Well, what do you know? It works.

And got as far as Woodland, California, just outside of Sacramento at around 1.30 AM. So that's

about 460 miles with no charging issues. So far so good. The trip is as smooth as

the Taycans powertrain. But here's the thing. I got into Woodland with the Porsche

running on the equivalent of a couple D-cell batteries. Hey, Porsche, I need a charging station.

So it's time to find some electricity. I'm not too worried. I've run batteries down further than

this. There must be some pad when the pack hits zero. Porsche, route planner, do your thing.

County Fair Fashion Mall, 50kW in Woodland. Would you like to start route guidance?

Yes, 50kW. Woodland, California is no EV hotspot, and this is the fastest terminal close by.

It does not support plug-in charge, but the old-fashioned credit card reader actually works.

Not always a guarantee. This is the closest I come to have any real issue on the trip.

50kW is not very fast. All you Chevy Pult owners know that. At least the terminal is

delivering at pretty much the advertised rate. There are hotels that have overnight charging,

oftentimes they're Tesla level two, which is why I brought this electron adapter along.

Unfortunately, I couldn't use it. I knew that yesterday was going to be very unpredictable.

I didn't know where I was going to end up, so I couldn't make a reservation.

While there aren't any super speedy chargers here, I can just juice up at this slower one

so I can get to the next one. Maybe this was fate. Since a couple pulled up in a very used Nissan

Leaf that they got at auction that morning, and they had no idea how to charge it,

so I earned a Boy Scout badge helping them out. Even at 50kW, I get nearly half a charge

between that assist and returning some emails. All I needed was 25 miles to get me to a fast 350kW

charger, but hey, time flies. Does it take longer to travel in an EV? Yes, it does, but I'm actually

finding things to do when I stop. All right, let's motor. Please follow I-5 north for 64 miles.

And these are motors, not engines. Merging power?

That is so great. And this is in normal mode. I'm not even in sport mode.

The 4S is hardly the fastest Icon, but it's the sweet spot, and it's plenty

quick with 0-60 time around 4 seconds. Speed? Well, when I planned this trip, I figured I was

going to keep it around 70 miles an hour for best efficiency to see what this could do,

but then I got in it. It's a Porsche. It wants to go fast, so I have been going faster.

I'm not going to admit to anything. I'm not going to incriminate myself.

I-5 is a major west coast arterial. There are a lot of large trucks and construction.

It's not just charging that can slow your trip down.

I get to use traffic jam assist again.

It does make the best of a bad situation. I would like to compliment the person that

originally specced this car out. They live in Florida. This leather, the upgraded stuff,

also the Bermister audio system is rich and punchy. It pairs very well with the optional glass,

which is insulated, plus mission e-wheels, right? That is the chef's kiss. I'm glad I held

out for mission e-wheels. I love those things. Charging to only 80 or 90 percent, I'm not getting

a full understanding of my range. I'll calculate that later. I've easily seen 260 miles on

tycons that I've had from the press fleet. Route guidance is working pretty well. It is

on the conservative side. Generally, when you're road tripping long distances with an EV,

you try to work the bottom of the battery. That is, drain it down to 5 percent, then charge to 80

percent, and then move on down the road, charge again, lather, rinse, repeat. It's the fastest way

to cover ground. At nothing other than highway speeds, and let's face it, I'm not driving 55

miles an hour. It's less efficient than driving in the city. I'm basically hitting

charging stations every 180 miles or so, not charging to 100 percent. I'm just doing what the

route planner tells me to do. I would like some terminal information and a larger font. It's

pretty small. I coast into the next stop with 30 miles of range left. I'm getting used to this.

I have zero, and I do mean no concerns about getting stranded. And if I do,

the CPO program comes with two years of free roadside assistance. I don't want to try that out.

Also, say what you will about EA stations. I'm batting a thousand on every visit. Plug-in

charge has been seamless, and I've hit 350 kilowatt units every time. I should have brought

some bug remover. There's often public charging at stores like Target and Walmart. I went in,

used the bathroom, could have got lunch or a snack. But I grabbed it from Holiday Inn,

like we all do. Right? Do that for 10 years, and you can afford a Porsche. During this charge,

I saw as high as 205 kilowatts. Like every session on this journey, I get busy with things.

And suddenly, I'm way past 80 percent, the point where all EVs slow down substantially.

On the whole, it's not worth sticking around longer. Work the bottom of the battery when traveling.

It puts into focus how little time it takes to charge. I just dashed in for a cup of coffee,

and, you know, got rid of the one before. Plus, this Rivian needs my position because

of the cable reach. It's time for me to head out. Thing is, the general rule is when people are

waiting for a plug, and you're at 80 percent, you really should leave. So it was time for me to go.

I'll admit, this is kind of a boring route. I wish I could take the back roads, but

this is my first real long-distance trip in an EV, and I didn't want to chance it.

The infrastructure along the interstates is much better. I'm really not having any issues.

I forgot how soothing road trips can be, especially in this car. The Taycan experience

is even better than I remember. Wish you could all experience it.

People talk about German cars having that great German feel.

Taycan absolutely defines that phrase. The chassis is vault solid. The steering is direct.

It has a nice hefty feel to it. I love the way I can see the fender bulge in front of me.

This is a terrific experience. Well worth the money, even though it is a lot of money.

One quibble I've always had with the Taycan is the center console. If you're trying to get something

out while you're driving, it's darn near impossible. I hope the 2025, which has been redesigned, fixes

that. I checked. It's the same, and everyone complains about it. I have a lot of experience

with electric vehicles. I've done some road tripping in them, and I know that these are not

for everyone. I always say for the best experience, you need to be able to charge where you sleep,

mostly because it's a lot less expensive. But the reality is, so far, I'm really not having

any issues. Yeah, it is taking more time. But part of it is I'm doing all this video production.

That's taking time too. I'm going to guess that it's adding two and a half hours to this trip.

Time for charge session number four and a half. I'm only counting the EV Go session at 50%.

This is another Walmart Electrify America. I've now been to more Walmart's in a day

than the past two years. It doesn't have a presence in Seattle. Like the other terminals,

it's fast. I've rolled in at 27 miles. I'll hammer home. I have not been an EA fan in the past.

Either I'm lucky or performance has improved exponentially, and I am not being sponsored

by the company either. The charge speed is the second quickest I've observed on the trip.

What do we have coming up behind me? Is this a C5 Corvette?

I think so. Yeah. Nice. Yes, you too.

License plate is Little Red Corvette. Shortened. This is a long drive. Let me tell you a story.

I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota. Love the place. You really don't see many exotic cars,

or at least you didn't back in the 70s. And one day, my friends and I were riding our bikes on

Highway 2 between Duluth and to Harbors, the site of Grandma's Marathon for you runners out there.

And I heard this other worldly sound from behind me. And before I could even check,

this blue streak went bolting past us, and we were all very impressed as, you know, young boys are.

And a couple miles up the road in the parking lot of Betty's Pies, still there, still good,

was a Porsche 928. I was always into cars. I didn't even know what that was.

And the guy was nice enough to show it to us. It was really cool. And then later,

I saw a 911 Turbo, the first generation with the whale tail. It was in Chestnut Brown,

parked by Aero Chevrolet on Superior Street for all you Duluthians out there.

It was amazing. It looked like nothing I had ever seen. Certainly not like a Mustang or a

Camaro. So I knew there was something special about the brand. Never dreamed that I'd own one. So

kind of feeling lucky these days. Teenager me would have been thrilled to know this was in my

future. I'm now going through the siscues. The roads are finally getting fun, reminding me why

I love this car so much. It would be great if charging stations had window cleaners.

The bugs are adding up. Jim, you mean the Porsche? Yes, I will be here. But even if I weren't,

I would be here. Let me know what time. I texted my editor from the New York Times that I was

driving up I-5 in the Porsche and he lives near Portland and asked if he wanted to see it.

So that was that message. I got a late start after sleeping in. It would mean getting into Seattle

at 2 a.m. I decide to crash at Jim's new place, which requires one more juice up. And I experience

the only hiccup of the trip. The Porsche planner sends me off to the middle of nowhere,

only to route me to a Tesla station. Searching for a different one, it insists I drive 30 miles south

and I don't want to do that. I reboot the system and it finds an EA station three blocks away.

Again, the only miss of the trip, but fixed. And my first fast food meal, Dairy Queen.

There are very few of those in Seattle, so this is always a treat. I end up rolling into

Portland around 10 p.m. Day three. Jim's new place is amazing. And not just because he has

a level two charger that I can mooch, I take on 70 kilowatts of electricity overnight, a full charge.

I can finally do a real range test. And Jim is a fellow car guy. I think this pretty much says

it all. I thank Jim for his hospitality and head home. In a quarter of a mile, keep left onto I-5

north towards Seattle. Must be German for Seattle, just three hours north now. The Tycon 4S is rated

at somewhere in the neighborhood of 230 miles. And Porsche famously underrates that.

So I'm driving 75, 80 miles an hour average and, you know, having some fun here and there.

And I'm actually nailing about 230. So in a fairly inefficient scenario,

temperatures in the 60s, this is doing pretty well. And I'm easily finding charging stations.

In total, the Tycon is taken on 392 kilowatt hours of electricity. That's $216 closer to $250

if I didn't get a free fill at Jim's place. I covered 1,230 miles. Driving in a gas powered car,

let's pick Porsche's Panamera since it's similar in form factor to Tycon. Fuel would have cost

the same, $250 with premium averaging $5.50. Home charging, electricity costs would be a lot less

around 45 bucks to cover 1,200 miles. And yeah, the ICE car would have cut time off the trip.

Total DC fast charging time was just under three hours. But I had a great time playing with my new

toy. Charging didn't bother me at all. I used some of that time to get things done. Plus I enjoyed

getting to know my car and still kind of pinching myself as I wheel into the Emerald City.

It's at this point, I must defend myself. I did all sorts of research, even figuring out

how much the difference in insurance would cost between a 4S and a Turbo or Turbo S, by the

way it's significant. I even measured my garage. I really did. Theoretically, the Tycon fits. A little

tight, but the numbers worked out. However, with the car in my possession and eyeballing the

opening of the cave here, I'm not going in without a spotter. Time to consult a structural

engineer to see if the wing walls can be cut away. Time for its first Seattle bath and get those

bugs off the front. I'm going to be doing a lot of stories with this vehicle in the next year or two.

It's one of the reasons why I bought it. So I can show you what the CPO experience is like,

how much it costs to maintain. This is a Porsche. I'm kind of curious myself,

plus a lot of other stuff. Also, I do car reviews, if you didn't know, very highly regarded. So check

those out. In the meantime, subscribe, click notifications, follow me on social media. I'm on

threads and Blue Sky now. And if you have a question, leave it in the comments. I'll get

back to you. That's Driven. I'm Tom Bulk.

Porsche Taycan

Nissan Leaf

Dodge Charger

Chevrolet C5

Porsche 928

Ford Mustang

Chevrolet Camaro

Porsche Panamera

About this episode

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