The Battery

The battery is located in the underbody of the Taycan, ensuring a low centre of gravity and thus sporty driving characteristics. The battery housing is a load-bearing component of the body structure, accommodating cooling and electronic components and protecting them from environmental influences.

The waterproof housing is a sandwich construction consisting of a cover at the top and a bulkhead plate at the bottom. The truss-design battery frame with multiple subdivisions is mounted in between. The cooling elements are glued on underneath the bulkhead plate. The battery housing is secured by means of a steel protective plate. For the battery frame, the developers opted for a lightweight aluminium design. On the one hand, this provides a lot of installation space for the cell modules – and consequently a high battery capacity. On the other hand, this has made it possible for the vehicle weight to be kept low. Modern joining techniques are used, such as MIG welding (Metal welding with Inert Gases) on the battery frame, laser welding on the bulkhead and protection plates, and heat-conducting adhesive on the line system under the battery (see below).

The two-deck Performance Battery Plus (standard in the Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S) contains 33 cell modules consisting of 12 individual cells each (396 in total). The total capacity is 93.4 kWh. The Taycan and Taycan 4S are equipped as standard with the Performance Battery with a gross energy content of 79.2 kWh. Compared with the optional Performance Battery Plus, there are five fewer cell modules in the Performance Battery. This results in a voltage range of approximately 520 to 720 volts. In total, 336 cells are interconnected in 28 modules based on the technical principle 168s2p. The lower number of cell modules also offers the benefit of weight reduction. For instance, the Taycan and Taycan 4S with the Performance Battery are around 76 kilograms lighter than the models with the Performance Battery Plus.

The cells themselves are pouch cells. In this cell type, the electrode stack is not enclosed by a rigid housing, but by a flexible composite foil. This allows optimal use to be made of the rectangular space available for the battery as well as a reduction in weight.

The modules each have an internal control unit for monitoring voltage and temperature and are connected to each other via busbars.

800-volt system voltage: less weight, faster charging
With the Performance Battery Plus, the Taycan is the first series production car with a system voltage of 800 volts (voltage range 610 to 835 volts) instead of the usual 400 volts for electric cars. This enables consistently high performance, reduces the charging time and decreases the weight and installation space of the cabling. The gross capacity is 93.4 kWh. The ‘foot garages’ – recesses in the battery in the rear footwell – provide the best possible seating comfort in the rear and allow the low vehicle height typical of sports cars.

Heat pump permits intelligent functions
The battery is integrated into the vehicle’s cooling circuit via a line system and a coolant pump. It can be cooled or heated so that it always operates in an ideal temperature window. The cooling elements have been placed outside the actual battery box and are glued to its underside so as to allow heat transfer. The fundamental development aim was to dissipate as little heat as possible into the environment and thus be as energy-efficient as possible in winter.

The battery can also store the waste heat from the liquid-cooled high-voltage components. As a result, it serves as a thermal storage device or buffer, which permits intelligent functions, such as battery conditioning, to ensure driving performance: the target temperature of the battery is determined on the basis of the battery charge and the selected driving programme. This ensures a sporty driving performance and allows Launch Control to be used.

Depending on the outside temperature, the battery is preconditioned to a certain temperature level when the vehicle is connected to the mains for charging. The interior temperature can be preconditioned independently of the mains.

The vehicle also predicts the electrical power consumption of the air-conditioning system and the conditioning of the components based on the outside temperature, humidity and sunlight, as well as the currently selected driving mode and the respective setting of the automatic climate control system. The current range is calculated using these figures. In a parallel process, the optional PIRM (Porsche Intelligent Range Manager) provides a background forecast for the Range driving programme. When route guidance is activated, if the range calculation shows that the destination can be reached with a low battery charge, the system switches to a more energy-efficient driving programme and a different climate control mode.