Porsche adds Plug & Charge to the 2021 Taycan

Last year Porsche introduced its Taycan electric car, and now it’s announced what’s changing for the 2021 model year. Now the sports car will support Plug & Charge, which lets owners pay for vehicle charging just by plugging in their vehicle — no separate app or card swiping requires. Based on the ISO 15118 standard, it will be available at Electrify America charging stations starting next year. Owners can also enable battery preservation, which slows charging to 200 kW from the max 270 kW at DC fast chargers, and can help prolong the battery’s life when you have time for a longer stop.

Inside, a color heads-up display is now available, and models with air suspension can get SmartLift tech that automatically adjusts the Taycan’s ride height at memorized locations, like particularly steep driveway entrances (you all have that problem too?), or speed bumps.

Autoblog notes that the acceleration numbers have been adjusted, shaving one-tenth of a second on the quarter mile to 10.7, and two-tenths in 0 – 124 MPH to 9.6 seconds. Nothing has changed about the specs, it’s just that Porsche’s data collection shows the car is consistently faster than where it had been rated.

Finally, Porsche is adding more “Function on Demand” subscription features. The company describes this as more convenient, as customers can add extra assists at their leisure without visiting the dealer, but it sounds a lot like paying for tech that’s already installed in the car. According to Porsche, “four functions will be available for purchase and three will be available as monthly subscriptions,” via its Porsche Connect Store. These include Active Lane Keeping assist, an InnoDrive feature that control’s the car’s speed through changing conditions and its Range Manager that operates when you’re using the navigation optimize the balance between comfort and shortest travel time.

There’s no word on pricing for those software updates or the cars themselves, but orders will open in Q4, with US arrivals of the first models scheduled for early 2021.