The energy behind the Taycan.

The sound – the acoustic business card of the Taycan.
“The drive units are our instruments”, says Tobias Hillers, Active Sound Design Manager. He sees himself clearly as an engineer, not a designer or even composer – but with a flair for music. Even during his studies, he specialised in vehicle acoustics – a passion that has accompanied him since childhood days. He and his team are the specialists behind the sound of the new Taycan. They gave it a voice.

No easy task, because not only the customers, but also the press and Porsche employees who were not directly involved in the development of the Taycan listened very carefully to the sound. And their expectations and demands were high. Even within our own ranks: “Every Porsche has an unmistakeable sound. The different motorisations lend each model its own character, but each vehicle is unmistakably Porsche – we wanted to achieve the same for the Taycan.” At the same time, they wanted to reinterpret and redefine the Porsche sound for the electric vehicles. Add a pinch of future. So how do you do it?

For this purpose, the drive units are measured over the entire speed range on test stands. This measurement data is digitally processed to produce the desired sound. To achieve this, many subjective and objective comparisons are made in sound development. The subjective audio samples and surveys in the recording studio are particularly important. Here, different sounds are played to several test persons so as to establish what the customers want based on their reactions. This is how Tobias and the team finally create a sound over several iteration stages, giving the driver feedback on the driving condition and arousing emotions.

The result: the Porsche Electric Sport Sound. A potent sound that becomes increasingly voluminous and powerful the more dynamic the driving. And the first electric sports car that manages to reproduce the performance of the vehicle over the entire speed range. A result with which Tobias and his team are extremely satisfied. “The Porsche Electric Sport Sound is unmistakably Porsche. And it bears the sound DNA.” It therefore lays the foundation for the development of all future electric models at Porsche.

The interior – stunning outside, "OLEA" inside.
What shapes the typical character of a Porsche? For Jari Uhde it is clear, “the design, the smell as soon as I get in. And the haptic sensations when I touch parts inside the vehicle.” Ensuring that the Porsche brand and the values associated with it can be found – indeed, can be touched – inside a vehicle is the task of Jari Uhde, Cornelia Rosenbohm and Ekrem Topcu, among others in the Materials Development department, who are responsible for the selection, development and testing of future vehicle interior materials.

In the Taycan, the mission was clear: to create something new. And simultaneously convey a sense of familiarity. Sustainability should be at the forefront of every decision. The greatest challenge was to combine the high demands on the materials themselves with the demands on their sustainability. Because it's not about selling a “story of sustainability”, but about producing in a truly environmentally conscious way. This means that not only the materials themselves are tested for their environmental impact, but the entire cycle – including the production and further processing of the material.

In addition, every material to be installed in a Porsche must meet high standards. Jari scrutinises the intended use of the material and deduces stresses and strains: UV radiation, heat exposure, abrasion or soiling. Does the customer possibly use a hand cream that could affect the material, especially on the steering wheel? Measures are then determined to protect the materials against these stresses. Finally, they are tested for robustness, abrasion, wear or strength using various tests and methods, some of which have been developed in-house. Even the odour of materials is tested and assessed in advance under standardised conditions by a team of several trained test persons.

The charging infrastructure – full charge Porsche.
Simon Schulze always saw himself as a bit of a petrol head. But that changed with his first ride in an electric vehicle. He is particularly fascinated by the dynamic aspect, the unleashing of power of the new Taycan. But also the fact that you actually have to worry less about refuelling. Because the electric vehicle charges overnight, has a full tank in the morning and has a range of over 400 kilometres.

It is Simon's job to ensure that everything runs smoothly. As the Product Manager for charging infrastructure, he focuses on the existing and future products that make up the Porsche charging ecosystem on a daily basis. The department is responsible for developing hardware, services and networks, such as the Porsche Destination Charging programme. With this programme, Porsche customers can use exclusive charging stations at special destinations such as hotels or restaurants. He ended up in the Electromobility department more by chance, but then somehow "got stuck there", as he says himself. "Working on this topic feels like working on the ravages of time."

Production – break new ground.
When Milan Spasic comes to work in the morning, he knows exactly what to expect: “First we meet before work starts, have coffee together, talk a little and then, at 6:00 am on the morning shift, we start work.” Milan has been part of the Porsche family, as he himself calls it, for eight years. When he joined Porsche for the second time in 2011, one of his dreams came true. Because he always wanted to be a “Porscheaner”.

Starting with the assembly of the sports cars, he then moved to the final assembly of the 918 Spyder. When he heard that a new plant was being constructed for a new model that no one had ever built before, it was immediately clear that he had to be a part of it. You can feel his passion for the brand and the vehicles. And for his work. He really knows his way around the new production facility, which was built especially for the Taycan in Zuffenhausen. After all, he has been there from the very beginning to accompany the processes that have been conceived from scratch. Milan makes sure that everything goes according to plan, trains new colleagues and supports them in their tasks.

The biggest change with the switch to an electric drive is probably working with the high-voltage battery and its components. The "marriage", as the joining of the body with the engine is called in automotive manufacturing, now means the connection of the rear axle, front axle and battery. Cable harnesses and coolant hoses are laid, various HV components and the battery are screw-fastened and contacted. But there are also other things that are different in the new plant, which in the long term is to become a "Zero Impact Factory" – a production facility without a negative environmental impact: new equipment, new facilities with unmanned systems, new cycle times.