The Porsche Taycan EV Just Set A Speed Record We Didn't Know Existed

A top speed of 102 miles per hour doesn't, on the face of it, sound at all impressive, especially for the Porsche Taycan EV which, in Turbo S form, has 750 horsepower to play with. Still, it was enough to score the German automaker a new Guinness World Records title, an extra notch in the Taycan's metaphorical bedpost for a challenge most people probably didn't even know existed.

There are, to be fair, a whole lot of those challenges. The Guinness World Records team actually takes applications for new records or attempts at existing ones: you can make a suggestion, and the organization will decide whether or not it deserves to be included in its roster.

Porsche is actually no stranger to that, either. Back in 2020, for instance, the Taycan was the subject of another record-setting attempt, for drifting an electric car. The "longest vehicle drift" for an EV took place last August, with 210 laps in a continuous drift that took more than 54 minutes to complete. That added up to over 26 miles of going sideways, with Dennis Retera – chief instructor at the Porsche Experience Centre – only apparently halted because the Taycan's battery ran flat.

Now, the EV is the subject of another, even more unusual record. That's the fastest speed by a vehicle indoors, with the Taycan Turbo S hitting 102 mph under some stringent conditions.

Racing driver Leh Keen had to start the attempt at a standstill, without any sort of run-up either inside or outside of the building. At the end of the attempt, he needed to bring the car to a safe halt within the indoor space too. Porsche couldn't leave doors open for safety, nor set up nets or any other decelerating device, just in case Keen decided to push it a little too far.

As for the building itself, there space was obviously key but also surface. Porsche picked the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, which has more than a million square feet to play with. It also has a polished concrete floor, which Keen says acted like ice when driven on at speed.

Porsche used the stock rubber on the Taycan Turbo S, but was allowed to preheat the tires ahead of time. With launch control switched on the EV does 0-60 mph in 2.6 seconds: Keen pointed the car at a distant wall and then hit the accelerator.

"I did take a moment on the starting line – knowing I was going to have to go as fast as I could, and stop again, all before reaching the wall I was facing. It got my attention," the driver explains. "I used the car's launch control and the Taycan just hooked up – the sensation of speed indoors, even in such a big space, is enormous – that wall rushed up fast. I was gentle on the brakes in the end – the Taycan's brakes were more than up to the job. Of course, I didn't look down at my speed so it came as a surprise and a relief that I'd beaten the record, and by such a margin. It was a rush!"

The final record stood at 102.6 mph, and was Keen's one and only record attempt on the day. It beat the old record of 86 mph, which had been set back in 2013.