Taycan

Make
Porsche
Segment
Sedan

We're now just days away from the world premiere of the Porsche Taycan, and so, naturally, the teaser campaign is hotting up. We already know Porsche's first-ever electric sedan will be blisteringly fast, as the automaker claims the Taycan will accelerate from 0-62 mph in less than 3.5 seconds and 0-124 mph in less than 12 seconds. But actions speak louder than words.

To demonstrate the Taycan's potent performance, grip, and stability, Porsche used a prototype to perform a unique acceleration test. Instead of using a conventional test track, Porsche's first all-electric car accelerated from a standstill to 90 mph and back on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. As publicity stunts go, this is pretty epic.

Specifically, the test was carried out on the 27,500-ton USS Hornet, which has a flight deck measuring 869 feet long. Famously, the ship was also used to recover the astronauts from the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 missions to the moon and housed the quarantine facility used by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.

Behind the wheel of the Taycan prototype was professional racing driver Shea Holbrook, who used the car's launch control systems and high-performance carbon-ceramic brakes to their maximum capacity. According to Porsche, the Taycan came to a stop less than 100 feet before the end of the flight deck.

"The deck is a long, long way up and despite appearances, it's actually quite bumpy," said Holbrook. "Deliberately accelerating towards thin air and the ocean is a new experience for me, but the Taycan gave me a huge amount of confidence – it was really stable but under acceleration and, more importantly, under braking. I built up to the final run, slowly increasing the speed each time until I felt confident and each time the car felt completely comfortable in what it was being asked to do. What a rush! It was only when I looked back at the footage that it dawned on me what I'd just done."

Impressively, the Taycan accelerated to 90.58 mph in just 422 feet before Holybrook had to brake hard. In total, the entire run took 10.17 seconds, despite the uneven surface. "While this isn't a usual metric we use to benchmark the performance of the Taycan, it's quite a fitting way for a professional to demonstrate the power of the car as it nears the end of its development," said Stefan Weckbach, Vice President Product Line, Taycan. "On a tough, changeable surface the Taycan's composure, its incredible acceleration and stopping power were so impressive. It goes without saying that this impressive run is strictly for pros like Shea."

The Porsche Taycan will be revealed to the world on September 4 during a live-streamed event.