Porsche Adds Taycan EV To Its Expanded Car Subscription Service
Porsche is adding the Taycan to its subscription program, allowing the EV-curious to book anything from an hour to several months behind the wheel of the performance sedan – as long as they're in the right area. Launched in late 2017, Porsche Drive includes access to a vehicle, plus insurance, servicing, delivery, and all other costs bar fueling – or charging – it up, as the automaker flirts with ways to pull in new drivers.
The addition of the Taycan brings the Porsche Drive line-up to seven models. There are several different plans, depending on how much vehicle flexibility you want and how long you actually want to have it. Shortest are Porsche Drive Rentals, which could be measured in a matter of hours, days, or weeks.
Alternatively, there's a Single-Vehicle Subscription, with the option of one or three month periods (and the choice to extend at the end of that). Finally, Porsche Drive offers Multi-Vehicle Subscription, with monthly swaps between models supported. Initially, the Taycan will not be offered in the Multi-Vehicle plan.
As with the other Porsche coupes, convertibles, four-doors, and SUVs, the Taycan will be booked with the Porsche Drive app. It's through that which concierge delivery is booked, and collection at the end of the period. Multiple models of Taycan will eventually be offered, though to begin with it'll just be the Taycan 4S with all-wheel drive.
That will be priced at $3,250 per month, which Porsche points out is about 20-percent more than the monthly cost of a comparable two-year lease. That premium is down to "the flexible and all-inclusive package," the automaker says. Alternatively, it'll be priced at $335 per day for 1-3 day rentals, or $295 per day for 4+ day rentals. All prices include insurance, any maintenance costs, and other fees, but exclude charging fees.
As for the Taycan rear-wheel drive, when that arrives as an option on Porsche Drive it'll be $2,500 per month. Porsche hasn't said how much it will be for daily plans, but has confirmed that it'll be offered on all three tiers, including Multi-Vehicle Subscriptions.
The biggest factor affecting whether Porsche Drive is for you – beyond your willingness to cough up the cash – is service availability. Porsche is working with individual dealers to manage the fleets, and currently there's a limited number of places where they're available. The automaker is adding five new cities to four existing markets today, bringing the total to nine locations: Atlanta, GA; Houston, TX; Phoenix, AZ; and in California in Irvine, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose.
More places, Porsche says, will be added over the course of this year.
For a while, a few years back, it seemed like all automakers – particularly those offering high-end vehicles – would flirt with subscription services. In the intervening period, however, several of the schemes have shut down, whether due to lack of demand or the complexity of operations. BMW axed its option earlier this year, while Cadillac called time on its version back in 2018.
Porsche, though, seems happy with its progress. 80-percent of Porsche Drive users are new to the brand, the automaker says, lured in – in part – by the shorter-term commitment compared to traditional sales, finance, and leasing of vehicles.