It’s one of the few Porsches that would make Jeremy Clarkson happy. That’s because, to test the interior of its upcoming all-electric Taycan Cross Turismo, Porsche is using a model that breaks apart in the middle.
The result is two halves of a car that can be used to quickly remove and replace items in order to test how its new car will feel to the people who are inside it.
You’d think that, being a wagon, the Cross Turismo would be an easier model to fit people inside of. But the constantly competing needs of exterior aesthetics, interior dimensions, and technology mean that space is constantly at a premium, according to Klaus Bernhard, Porsche’s team leader for concept cars and mock-ups.
“This is where we recreate what the future vehicle will look like,” said Bernhard, as translated by Porsche. “As such, we can get an impression very early on in the process if it will be what we, the ergonomics experts, have imagined.”
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That involves a lot of getting in and out of the car, sitting, shifting, and really nitpicking because Bernhard says that a few millimeters can make the difference between feeling comfortable and feeling uncomfortable.
The size of the trunk is also paramount in a wagon. Since it has all that extra bodywork you’d expect it to grow. Indeed, the customer’s needs always take precedence, but there’s always more technology to stuff into the car, more speakers and wires and equipment to find space for. So it’s a constant battle to ensure that space isn’t stolen from the customer.
“Coordinating these opposing demands, making sure that a square suitcase fits into a nice rounded trunk, for example, is ensured by the methods we see here,” says Bernhard.