Porsche's CEO Admits The Taycan Arrived Too Early

The First Step

It could be said that the 2010s saw true growth in the electric car market. While automakers had sporadically introduced EVs prior to that, battery-powered vehicles slowly entered the mainstream with pioneering models such as the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S. As the decade rolled on, more companies started introducing their own EVs.

Porsche began its first steps towards mass electrification in the mid-2010s when it showed the Mission E concept in 2015. The production was eventually debuted in 2019 for the 2020 model year as the Taycan, becoming the brand's first-ever EV available to the public. Fast forward to today, and the Taycan has been joined by electric versions of the Macan and Cayenne.

The launch of the Taycan was a brave move from Porsche, although the brand's current CEO Michael Leiters now wishes some things could've have been done differently - namely its launch date.

Too Early?

German automotive publication Auto Motor und Sport recently held a panel interview with some of CEOs of the local auto industry. When asked 'Do you firmly believe in an electric future?' Leiters responded with this:

"Porsche remains open to all technologies. Porsche was a pioneer in e-mobility; the Taycan was a flagship project and an outstanding product. But the timing wasn't ideal; we were apparently too fast with e-mobility."

Now, the executive didn't expound further as to why he thinks the Taycan's introduction was too early. That car was launched during Oliver Blume's tenure as Porsche CEO. Blume is currently the CEO of the Volkswagen, perhaps explaining why Leiters didn't elaborate on his take as his predecessor was also present in the panel.

VW Group's EV Blitz

Perhaps Leiters was referring to the VW Group's successive rollouts of electric cars from 2019 to the early-2020s. It was that time when all brands under the company's wing introduced their respective EVs, and the reception towards those models weren't exactly the warmest.

Mind you, the Taycan was spared from the harsh criticism, as it was (and still is) a genuinely good car. What worked against it was range, as EVs with similar performance could go further on a single full charge. Maybe if the Taycan spent more time in development, it could've gotten more advanced battery tech to would've made it more appealing and useable.

Porsche is currently developing a new-generation Taycan. With lessons learned from the current model, you can bet that it'll be more potent (as if the current one isn't) and make better use of its battery capacity.

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This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 3:45 PM.