Porsche's first electric car, which has been known as the Mission E during its development, will be called the Taycan (pronounced tie-con), when it goes on sale late next year.
The name, which is derived from Turkish, according to Porsche, and translates as "lively young horse," is a reference to the prancing steed at the center of Porsche's shield-shaped logo.
The four-door car with a sports car shape was first unveiled to the public as the Mission E concept car at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. A crossover SUV version, called the Mission E Cross Turismo, was revealed at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year.
The Taycan will be Porsche's first fully electric car. The company, which is part of the Volkswagen Group, currently offers several plug-in hybrid models and sold just over 900 of the Porsche 918 Spyder, a limited-edition plug-in hybrid supercar.
The Taycan will be able to go from a stop to 60 miles an hour in under 3.5 seconds, thanks to its two electric motors that produce more than 600 horsepower. Tesla's highest-performance cars and SUVs can get to 60 miles an hour even faster -- in less than three seconds.
But Porsche's brand image is built on track performance not just straight line acceleration so, with the Taycan, Porsche promises a "level of continuous power that is unmatched by any other electric vehicle." Other electric cars can't handle repeated hard acceleration because their batteries will overheat. The car's top speed will be 155 miles an hour.
Porsche makes different versions of all its cars, ranging from from fast to extremely fast, and it's expected to do the same with the Taycan. There will likely be more extreme versions of this car in the future.
The Taycan will be able to go 300 miles on a single charge and, with fast charging, 240 miles with only a 15 minute charge, according to Porsche.
Porsche is working with partners to create 500 fast charging stations at highway locations and at Porsche dealers around the United States. As part of the Volkswagen Group (VLKAY), Porsche is also working with other automakers, including BMW and Ford (F), to build thousands of charging points throughout Europe.
The car will go on sale at the end of 2019. Prices are expected to start around $80,000 to $90,000. Porsche executives have said that more electric cars will follow.
