The Taycan takes on the Arctic: A silent journey to the northern lights

Just outside the Finnish town of Levi, some 2,842 kilometres north of Stuttgart, the average winter temperature is minus 10 degrees Celsius. Daylight is limited to around four hours, between 10:00 and 14:00, after which the mercury plummets and the night sky overhead turns a fathomless black. If you’ve ever wanted to see the celestial phenomenon known colloquially as the northern lights, Levi is the place to be.

The perfect job for the Porsche Taycan

Accessing this remote part of Finland, 150 kilometres inside the Arctic Circle, with suitable sensitivity to the hushed and unspoilt environment, is the perfect job for the Porsche Taycan. With zero local CO₂ emissions and the absence of exhaust or induction noise, the all-electric sports sedan moves serenely through the empty wilderness, ruffling no feathers and leaving no trace bar tell-tale tyre tracks in the virgin snow.

For many, the idea of taking an EV to such a place still raises questions about battery performance in freezing temperatures, about charging speeds and the impact of cold on range. But Porsche’s 800-volt architecture and the Taycan’s sophisticated thermal management system are proving their mettle in northern Finland on a daily basis. Here, the Taycan now forms an important part of the Porsche Ice Experience, where guests are invited to drive a range of Porsche models on snow and ice.

Pre-heating via the MyPorsche App

The Taycan has proven to be one of the favourites among the ice-driving participants. Maybe that’s got something to do with the pre-heat function, which warms the cabin remotely via the MyPorsche App. Maybe it’s the instant torque delivery to all four wheels, or the superior traction provided by permanent all-wheel-drive on Taycan 4 models and above, both invaluable assets on such challenging surfaces.

For the team tasked with readying the cars for Levi’s demanding daily driving duties, the process couldn’t be simpler either. Even in sub-zero temperatures, high charging rates are achievable and rapid charging up to 80 per cent state of charge (SOC) can be carried out in less than 20 minutes. This is made possible thanks to the thermal management system preconditioning the battery for charging using data from the Turbo Charging Planner.

The reduced performance of battery systems at low temperatures, even noticeable in your smartphone or camera, is due to the reduced mobility of the ions in the electrolyte. The increased internal resistance in the battery results in a loss of performance. But the Taycan's thermal management system ensures conditioning of the high-voltage battery, allowing the Taycan to draw on its full performance. In conjunction with the heat pump, which is fitted as standard, it also enables the interior to be heated efficiently by utilising excess heat from the powertrain.

In search of the northern lights then, the Taycan moves in virtual silence, the only external sound, barely audible through its double-glazed glass, that of bespoke winter tyres on the freshly fallen snow. Coming to rest in a clearing, framed by dense lines of pine trees, the eye is drawn naturally skywards, through the Taycan’s panoramic glass roof towards a vast, unbroken canopy of stars. The first faint flicker of green suggests the timing is perfect, the pitch darkness around the car gradually illuminated by what the Finnish locals call revontulet – the firefox – the hypnotic spectacle of the northern lights.