Marc UrbanoCar and Driver
From the October 2021 issue of Car and Driver.
At 14,115 feet above sea level in Colorado, we found ourselves in a pickle. A $136,190, 562-hp German pickle. Our Porsche Taycan 4S—with only 6 percent of the battery remaining and an indicated 12 miles of range—needed to charge. There’s no practical place to plug in an electric car at the top of Pikes Peak, but there’s plenty of potential energy in a 5128-pound sedan staring down a very long hill.
For most of the year, the Pikes Peak Highway, located near Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a scenic passage of paved hairpins stuck to mountains of granite. But for one day in June, it is closed to the public for a morning of high-speed, high-risk carving known as the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb event. That’s what brought us here, the 99th running of a real-life Gran Turismo that isn’t yet tooled for electrification.
Infographic by Nicolas RappCar and Driver
The nearest charger from the Pikes Peak summit is 30 miles back into downtown Colorado Springs. Although the 12 miles of indicated range was based on driving up a volcanic wall for 20 minutes, we were confident the negative grade would refill our batteries, or in the worse case scenario, make pushing a 2.5-ton Porsche easier.
By using its electric motors’ regenerative capability, the Taycan can turn the hill’s 17 miles of descent into electricity to feed its 83.7-kWh lithium-ion pack with up to 265 kilowatts. Regen peaks at 0.30 g, akin to the braking force you’d feel when stopping from 70 mph on a flat 550-foot exit ramp. Any increased need to slow down is handled by the friction brakes; staying off them maximizes energy returned to the battery. Get it right, and we’d be able coast downhill, brake late, and earn some electricity. Get it wrong and we’d convert some of the Taycan’s now-kinetic energy into heat. Get it really wrong and we’d fly off the mountain.
Marc UrbanoCar and Driver
We got it right, and all that regeneration meant we’d barely pinched the discs on the way down. So, when we arrived at Glen Cove at 11,440 feet for a mandatory brake-temperature check, we had a surprise in store for a park ranger and his infrared thermometer. He said he’s seen front-rotor temps exceed 900 degrees. The Taycan’s registered a comfortable 67 degrees—an unofficial Pikes Peak record.
Between the summit and the entrance gate, we were able to charge the battery to 17 percent and convert our range anxiety into 48 miles of optimism. Our range once we reached downtown Colorado Springs was over 100 miles, thanks to the grade of Highway 24 that pours back into the city. We didn’t have to plug-in again until later that night when we returned to the hotel.
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