Porsche Taycan's 800-Volt Architecture Enables Slimmer Wiring, Faster Charging, Less Heat
At 800 volts, the operating voltage of the Porsche Taycan is double the EV norm.
This enables faster charging, less heat, and thinner-gauge wiring.
The reduction in heat is a key enabler of the Taycan's extremely consistent claimed acceleration performance.
Raising the operating voltage in an EV has a host of positive trickle-down effects, which is why Porsche doubled the Taycan's volts to 800 from the typical 400.
The higher voltage allows for lighter wiring: Porsche says it trimmed 66 pounds from the electrical harness alone. Charging times are dramatically reduced, too, as the amount of current required to achieve a given power level is halved. That also means a lower current draw during high-power driving, which keeps the electric motors running cooler.
The Taycan can charge at a maximum of 270 kilowatts, which enables boosting the battery from 5 percent back up to 80 in a mere 22.5 minutes. But this requires using new 350-kW high-output charging stations; that's more power than even the most powerful Tesla Superchargers offer. Porsche promises 600 of these chargers across the U.S. by the end of 2020.
The Taycan is also compatible with the older, 400-volt DC fast-charging infrastructure. The car comes with 50-kW capability standard and a 150-kW unit optional, and it can charge on 240-volt AC power with its 9.6-kW onboard charger from either its left or right charge ports. That equates to a rather lengthy recharge time of 11 hours, but Porsche says it will be adding a 19.2-kW AC-charger option in the near future.
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