Tesla Model S ‘Raven’ put against Porsche Taycan Turbo S in fairer review — both are great

We previously reported on a direct comparison between the Tesla Model S and the new Porsche Taycan, but the review had its issues.

Now a Tesla Model S ‘Raven’ vs Porsche Taycan Turbo S gives a fairer look at the two top-of-the-line electric sedans and it concludes both are great cars.

Last month, Porsche officially launched the production version of the Taycan, its first all-electric car.

The vehicle was well-received, but it attracted the inevitable comparison with the Tesla Model S and it loses badly on paper.

But comparisons on paper are not the same as real-world tests.

Earlier this month, we reported on one of the first real-world comparison tests from a German magazine, but the test had its issues since they weren’t using the very latest Model S and the pavement was wet during their tests.

Now Top Gear managed to conduct their tests with a Porsche Taycan Turbo S and a brand new Tesla Model S with the latest ‘Raven’ powertrain:

Electrek’s Take

The review is mostly fair in my opinion.

As we have been pushing for a while now, the cars are fairly different and will appeal to different people.

The most important thing is that they are both electric and standing out in the premium sedan and sports car segments. Top Gear appears to come to a similar conclusion after its real-world tests.

However, in the direct real-world comparison test, something stuck out.

Again, like with the German magazine’s review, the Porsche Taycan won the drag race against the Model S in Top Gear’s test:

We have been expecting the Taycan Turbo S to beat the Model S on the quarter-mile, partly thanks to the two-gear gearbox, but the 0 to 60 mph acceleration is more surprising.

Tesla officially advertises Model S Performance with a 2.4-sec 0 to 60 mph acceleration and people have been able to replicate it in real-world conditions.

Unlike in the German magazine’s review, the pavement appears dry in Top Gear’s review so it’s not clear what the issue is here.

However, they did show the use of launch control in the Taycan, but they didn’t for the Model S Performance, which requires launch control to get the full power output.

The fact that they didn’t show it doesn’t mean that they didn’t use it, but it could explain the difference.

As for convenience, the Model S easily wins with more space, more range, and more convenient charging due to Tesla’s extensive Supercharger network.