After weeks of unmissable promotion surrounding the new Porsche Taycan at the end of 2019, the buzz around Porsche’s first full-electric vehicle seems to have gone a bit quiet. This may be somewhat appropriate for an EV but other factors are also at play.

I recently caught up with a friend who told me about delayed delivery of a large order of Porsche Taycans for a project he is involved with and it seems the delays have been well known for months. InsideEV ran a story on delayed Porsche Taycan deliveries in November 2019, sharing a Porsche email advising customers of an eight- to ten-week delay in delivery.

“Taycan is our first fully electric sports car. The car is developed from scratch and manufactured in a brand new factory. All Porsche employees have worked with full pressure to start delivering Taycan as scheduled in January. Still, as a result of the enormous complexity surrounding the production of Taycan, we must report that unfortunately the delivery dates are somewhat delayed.

“We currently expect delays of around eight to ten weeks, and a new production time for your car will be communicated through your seller as soon as this is ready. We strongly apologise and guarantee that we will do everything we can to deliver your Porsche Taycan as soon as possible.”

Delayed gratification is not part of the plan for those paying upwards of £83,000 (basic Taycan 4S RRP) for their new electric sports car. I don’t know how many Taycan orders Porsche has received, but I’ve spoken to lots of people – everything from builders to opticians (and not all Porsche enthusiasts) – who have one on order.

Corporation and Company Car Tax: EV exemptions

Full order books are not much of a surprise, given that UK corporation tax allows 100% of the list price of a full EV to be written off in the first twelve months and depreciation (if there is any such thing on a Taycan) will certainly be lower than the tax that would otherwise be payable on that money. Tax changes which come into effect in 2020/2021 will help to further reduce company car tax bills as zero emission, 100% electric cars will pay no company car tax in 2020/21, 1% in 2021/22 and 2% in 2022/23.

As the UK tax year runs until early April, corporate buyers may be content to wait for the new plate and the fine weather for their Taycans, but shiny happy people in the permasun regions might feel a bit different.

Taycan is Top Gear Car of the Year

Amongst the plaudits for Porsche Taycan towards the end of last year was the Car of the Year crown from BBC Top Gear. “It takes all of about three minutes driving a Taycan to realise that Porsche has permanently altered what people who love conventional cars will think of electric cars,” said the Top Gear editors.

“It hints at what will be possible with an electric platform in the future. Lower emissions, yes, but also a world of speed and capability that might make those who have hollered for the death of the internal combustion engine wonder if they’ve actually opened a Pandora’s box of raw speed.”

EVs are certainly changing the game on a daily basis and the torque from a standstill is jaw-dropping, but Car of the Year on such a low volume machine for the privileged few (builders and opticians included) is a bit of a head scratcher. Then again, Top Gear has probably never been regarded as a consumer motoring thought leader. What Car? magazine gave its overall Car of the Year award to the brand new Ford Puma, which makes a bit more sense.

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