Porsche betting Taycan can take on Tesla in electric car race

The Porsche Taycan 4S is ready to be ordered.

It's all yours for $116,590, the company announced on Monday.  And this new, substantially less-expensive version of Porsche's electric car will likely take aim at Tesla.

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Porsche's third installment in the burgeoning electric car market -- which will be in dealerships in Europe as of January 2020 -- comes on the heels of two previous, far costlier versions of the Taycan that were rolled out in September: The Turbo S ($185,000) and The Turbo ($150,900).

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According to the company, the Taycan 4S has several aspects which make it unique from the previous two Porsche electric offerings: "Distinguishing features of the Taycan 4S compared with the Turbo and Turbo S include the aerodynamically optimised 19-inch Taycan S Aero wheels and the red-painted brake callipers. The front apron with new geometry, side sills and rear diffuser in black ensure further visual differentiation."  It is also worth noting that the car has two battery sizes: The Taycan 4S can drive about 252 miles via the smaller battery and 287 miles via the larger battery.

VW, which owns Porsche, is reportedly trying to keep pace with Tesla in the burgeoning race to dominate the electric car market.  And the company is betting that the Taycan can do that.  Bloomberg notes that VW previously tried to compete with Tesla with an Audi electric car called the e-Tron, which dealt with various issues, including being postponed, before ultimately being recalled.

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