Dramatic music begins to play. The voice-over rolls in like thunder through verdant hills. A ballerina leaps through a dark space; she is power and poise personified. We've set the stage and now it's time to take a visual journey through a handful of Porsche models by way of a series of jolting, quick cuts. Is this going to be one of those cliche-laden brand videos? Yes it is, and at the end you'll know how to pronounce the name of Porsche's newest model: the Taycan.
The video above is basically the plastic bag scene from "American Beauty." Heck, the music is almost the same. Now to be fair, Porsche uses far cooler shots than a plastic bag floating in the air. Our favorite is when the red 911 comes sliding through a corner around the 0:38 mark. Porsche always does a good job of supplying truly beautiful footage for its videos. But then, its cars can do amazing things.
The point of this video, however, is to introduce us to the Taycan. That would be the name Porsche has decided to slap on the production version of its Mission-E concept electric sport sedan. It looks like Porsche's first full EV will be a truly exceptional car, but Porsche has chosen to saddle it with a pretty bad name, even if it does fit with the brand's recent naming conventions.
It's better than the alphanumeric soup currently being conjured up by the likes of Infiniti and Cadillac, but that doesn't make it good.
For those who want to know how to pronounce the name correctly, the voice-over says the name clearly at the end of the video. It's pronounced "Tie-Kahn."
With reportedly more than 600 horsepower on tap and a 0-60 mph time of less than 3.5 seconds, maybe the Taycan can outrun its own badges.
