We buy a used Porsche Taycan! Bargain price, 1000km road trip and charging dramas

“That’s proper arse-hole parking,” says the Tesla Model 3 owner as he stares – bewildered – at our Porsche Taycan blocking three Tesla superchargers.

He’s not wrong. It is arse-hole parking. But we didn’t have a choice.

A Taycan’s DC charge port is behind the front left wheel, and Tesla chargers are designed for Teslas to back into position and recharge at their rear-mount ports.

Since some Tesla superchargers now allow other EVs – like our Porsche – to charge, this is something of a problem. We’ve had to arse-hole park to make it work, blocking off access to Tesla owners. Like our pissed off new mate.

But this is all fine. It’s another EV charging learning experience for my road trip partner, who has just bought his first electric car and – in only half a day – has already been exposed to range anxiety, broken chargers, charger queueing, signing up to every conceivable charging app, and the perils of no phone reception to initiate charging.

You know, all the crap that Aussie EV owners (and we journalist road testers) still endure years after the electric revolution began.

The pre-loved Porsche bargain

It’s my accountant who has bought the used Porsche Taycan, not me. There’s a lesson there, kids. Study finance, not motoring journalism, if you want to have nice things.

I’ve come along to help with the buying/selling bit (I’m a car person) as it’s relocating from NSW to QLD, and my accountant – let’s call him Alan – doesn’t know how all this public charging stuff works. It’s a road trip of 1066km, and this is what we both learned…

For starters, the Porsche Taycan is a bloody marvel of a vehicle. I’ve previously written it’s the best EV available, if not the best value. The style, ride quality, performance, handling, dashboard layout and cabin materials all feel properly Porsche.

It’s wonderfully driver focussed, and you get a fizz of excitement and expectation every time you see the badge. It just feels special.

It’s about $195,000 to drive-away the cheapest Taycan RWD with zero options picked. As if any self-respecting Porsche buyer does that. Most drop well into an extra five-figures on the Porsche configurator, and you can dip into six figures extra if you get trigger happy.

Alan’s bought his 5600km year-old Taycan RWD for $165,000, and must pay another $6500 stamp duty. Hardly bargain basement, but really, this is basically a brand new car. The first owner, for whatever reason, simply hasn’t used it.

But stand by. Said first owner was the sort of chap who didn’t want to wait two years for his bespoke ordered Taycan, so he bought this highly-specc’d one off the showroom floor to swerve the waiting list.

Options? Looks to be around $50,000’s worth.

First up is the all-important longer-range Performance Battery Plus ($12,020). Over a smaller battery Taycan RWD (79.2kWh vs 93.4kWh) this lifts maximum power from 240kW to 280kW (300kW/350kW with launch control overboost) and torque from 345Nm to 357Nm. Acceleration’s a quick enough 5.4-seconds to 100km/h.

And just look at it. What a colour scheme. There’s Crayon paint ($5000), body-coloured 21-inch Mission E Design wheels ($11,400), Porsche Surface Coasted Brakes with white callipers ($6250), SportDesign side skirts ($1970) and black door release levers ($500).

Chuck in a panoramic roof ($3370), Sports Chrono pack ($2360), adaptive sports seat upgrade ($800), 4+1 seats ($1000), seat heating ($910), ambient lighting ($890) and Porsche’s electric sport sound ($1050) and it’s a colourful bill.

But for Alan, it certainly qualifies as a prestige EV used bargain for something in this price bracket, adhering to our article listing the recent mighty depreciation seen for higher end EV shoppers.

Road trip and charging challenges

We leave Sydney at 2pm having done the deal. Monies paid, we’re heading north away from the Big Smoke.

In the next 13 hours of driving we’ll travel over 1000km – about a fifth of what this semi-virginal Taycan’s covered in the first 12 months of its life.

Economy? We average 20.8kWh/100km over 1066km at an average speed of 85km/h. Porsche’s official economy figure is 26.2kWh/100km, which has always seemed pessimistic. Sydney-driving aside, we’re rarely urban running, where EVs are at their best. For us to see under 21kWh/100km when the bulk of the driving was 110km/h on the highway is bloody impressive.

We stop first in Karuah after two hours, 168km and consumption of 19.4kwh/100km. It’s a 350kW NRMA charger, but the Porsche only takes a maximum of 150kW here, no doubt due to the two 50kW chargers beside also being used. Happy days we snared the fast one.

It’s Alan’s first stab at DC charging and he’s experienced the first hiccup. The NRMA charger’s screen is blank, so it’s only the car that gives us charging information as we fill up. Interestingly, on the Chargefox app, it states: ‘Station owner aware screen is damaged – Maintenance booked 19/01’. We’re here five days after said maintenance was booked in, so I explain to Alan this is typical EV charging life in Australia.

We start with 146km range (35% battery) at 4.21pm, and finish 26 minutes later with 368km (88% battery) having drawn 48.13kWh. It’s cost us $29.12. Alan also now knows we don’t charge to 100% at a public charger while others are waiting. Charge speed plummets and we’re being good EV citizens.

Three hours and 281km later we’re charging again, this time an Evie 350kW charger at Dawkins Park. Now we’re getting somewhere. The Taycan’s charge speed indicates 256kW here. We start with 57km range (16%) at 7.39pm, and after a Battered Dog – food, apparently – from the servo (the restaurant was closed), 30 minutes later we’re at 349km range (87%).

Next morning, Alan’s pretty pleased with life. Loves his new Taycan and the charging’s been relatively pain-free. He’s even made the valid point that stopping for half an hour to charge should mean more family time where you sit, chat and admire the view. I tell him try that on the roof of a closed shopping centre, or in an unlit car park in a bad part of town. Charging stations are not created equal.

True to form, our charging woes begin on day two. We’d targeted a 350kW charger at Ballina, but the app’s telling us it’s out of service. Bugger.

We divert to a 75kW charger at West Ballina BP, and arrive to find we’re not the only ones who’ve done so. When one charger goes down, others in the vicinity become hot property.

Comically, one of the two is not working. And it’s charging at 25kW. A Polestar 2 owner is in heated conversation with an elderly lady in a BYD Atto 3, and she seems determined to be charging here a while. He protests, saying he must charge and get to work, but she insists it’s first come first served.

Alan and I decide to bail. I note the PlugShare app feedback shows this BP site has been problematic through much of January. Slow charging, typically at 25kW, then only one charger functioning. Very poor.

We’re now getting a range warning in the Taycan. Fortunately, I’ve sussed out a Tesla supercharger which is open to other vehicles. But it’s a last resort. Once we’re there, we’ve no means of getting to another public charger due to lack of battery. Alan sweats. I say this is all part of the game.

Thankfully we manage to charge at Tesla’s playground, and it’s where we are forced into the arse-hole parking move. Alan tries signing up for Tesla’s charging app, but for whatever reason his phone can’t get reception. If it weren’t for my pre-existing account and my phone having a slither of reception, we’d have been in all sorts of trouble.

We start with 9% battery and just 35km range. An hour later we’ve taken on 70kWh but at a painful $0.85/kWh – a $60 fill-up. Now I see why Alan’s app/payment wasn’t working. He’s a finance guy, and this was an ideal time to lose phone reception. I decide to keep such a money-savvy chap as my accountant.

After 1000km we’re 60km south of our destination but need one final fill-up. It’s an Evie 350kW charger, and once again we’re forced to take up two parking spaces for the charge cable to reach. It takes just 35 minutes to draw 57.4kWh, and the Taycan’s now happily at 96% charge.

We’ve not suffered absolute charging nightmares, so Alan’s introduction to EV ownership has been mainly positive. He’s also managed to snare a one-year complimentary Chargefox subscription for public charging, as the original owner never took up the offer from new. Very strange.

The Taycan RWD proved a sublime long-distance cruiser. It may be the entry-level Taycan, but good grief for everyday use there’s more than enough performance.

Ride quality’s superb on the highway, as is road noise suppression in the beautifully-appointed interior. It’s a special car, and looks standout in its new tropical Noosa home.

That 20.8kWh/100km average over 1066km (mainly at high speed) is impressive indeed. Alan reports it’s averaging in the 19s now its duties are mainly lower speed town based.

He’s chopped in his Merc-AMG GLC 43, declaring it: “Old, slow and not very responsive.” One more EV convert it seems, and what a car to do it in.

Right. How do I sign up to become an accountant?