Porsche Taycan already has 30,000 pre-orders. How does that compare to Tesla?

The year is 2012. Elon Musk has yet to call anyone a “pedo guy” or drag the SEC on Twitter. There’s no Cybertruck with cracked windows, and no overly ambitious promises of a $35,000 electric car. Instead, fledgling electric vehicle company Tesla is just starting to deliver its first luxury sedan, the Model S.

Just seven years ago, Tesla’s first mainstream vehicle was just hitting the road. About 15,000 reservations for the car came in throughout the year. The first Model S cars were delivered in June and only 2,650 of the vehicles made it to customers before 2013. At the time, the Nissan Leaf was the only real all-electric contender.

Now, at the end of 2019, German carmaker Porsche is starting to deliver its first-ever all-electric luxury sedan, the Taycan, to customers in the United States. This week, Porsche CEO Oliver Blume reportedly confirmed 30,000 pre-orders in Europe since the car’s reveal in September, according to Reuters. A Porsche spokesperson said he couldn’t confirm U.S. pre-order numbers.

So while it looks like a win for Porsche, consider the fact that Tesla’s launch happened in 2012 and the most familiar electric vehicle then was a hybrid Toyota Prius. Porsche’s first EV is coming out amongst a more established field of high-end all-electric competitors from Audi, Jaguar, BMW, and Mercedes. Fast-forward to 2016, and more than 134,000 pre-orders came in during the first 24 hours after the Tesla Model 3 unveiling for the company’s next luxury sedan. That reached 325,000 pre-orders within a week.

Tesla’s first electric pickup truck, the Cybertruck, was a completely different beast. It racked up 250,000 pre-orders in under a week last month. Notably, the Cybertruck only requires a $100 deposit, while the Taycan’s requires the four digit reservation price of $2,500.

The Taycan and Tesla continue to face off at the race track, on the price sheet, and now at the battery level. The top-end Taycan Turbo was recently evaluated to hit 201 miles on a single charge, according to standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The European counterpart gave the Taycan Turbo a 280-mile range. In comparison, Tesla’s most basic car continues to hold down 220 miles on a charge. 

Stay tuned in 2020 as the Porsche vs. Tesla saga continues.