Porsche reveals one-off Taycan Turbo S Celestial Jade and the second-generation Taycan sports EV
Arriving at Singapore’s Pasir Panjang power station at the Southern fringe of the city-state, now repurposed as a cavernous events venue, guests of Porsche Southeast Asia were being encouraged to “overfeel.” It’s an apt word to describe how Porsche’s very quick, very powerful electric sports car, the Taycan, has been made even faster and more efficient. At the center of an arrangement of Taycan models—the Taycan sports sedan, the Taycan Cross Turismo, and the Taycan Turbo S, was a surprise reveal for the Southeast Asian market. When the cover was pulled back, there was an audible gasp of appreciation as the Celestial Jade one-off Taycan was revealed.Immediately visible is the Celestial Jade’s unique paintwork. The bright green front section gradually fades to an elegant dark gray. Similar to its precious-stone namesake, the paintwork shifts color as you walk around the car, and changes depending on the ambient light. The Celestial Jade looked bright and playful when the car was revealed to the press in the afternoon. During the nighttime launch, when Singapore’s Crazy Rich were in attendance, the unique paintwork gave the car a purposeful, powerful stance.
To achieve the color-shifting effect, Porsche combined two shades of paint: “Urban Bamboo,” a bright green paint with yellow and gold tones, and “Shifting Carbon,” a dark gray paint with blue and black tones. The two paint colors use Chromaflair effect paint. Mixed into the paint are extremely thin flakes consisting of an opaque, reflective aluminum core layer, surrounded by a glass-like layer. The flakes, just 1 micron thick (human hair is 50 times thicker), give this car its shimmer. Conceptualization and execution of the design took about a year, just to make sure everything was perfect. The paint application itself was done by hand, taking over 80 work hours.
Jade symbolizes happiness and longevity—thus its desirability in jewelry and artwork, while carbon, thanks to its light weight and strength, is apt for Porsche’s success in motorsports. The car also uses the Celestial Jade finish on the rear badges, the side “Electric” logos, and the key fob cover. The Porsche logo the car is a special
The Taycan Celestial Jade features logos symbolizing the “LongMa,” a mythical being with the head of a dragon (“Long”) and the body of a horse (“Ma”). Aptly, the car has been launched in the Year of the Dragon, while the Taycan model name itself comes from the Turkish from “young horse.” The LongMa logo is embedded in the sill guards of the front and rear doors, on the door projector light, and on all headrests.
The Porsche Taycan Turbo S Celestial Jade is a specially designed and outfitted under Porsche’s Sonderwunsch program. Further customization is seen on the carbon-fiber inlays on the front bumper, side skirts, and rear diffuser. The hand-crafted material is also seen on the wheel’s airblades. The Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur program also allows customers to specify “leather to sample” if they wish a particular color for the interior. The Celestial Jade car went several steps further, with its trunk trimmed in supple leather—to avoid scratching your matching Rimowa luggage, naturally.
Taking a bow alongside the Celestial Jade was the second-generation Porsche Taycan lineup. Porsche is defined by performance—as well as a resolutely modern way of expressing it in a car. Increasingly, performance has come to mean electrification, and Porsche has embraced the technology with hybrids and pure EVs in its lineup. Porsche’s first pure EV, the Taycan is a four-door sports car that changes the definition of Porsche performance. Gone is the trademark growl of a combustion engine, replaced by the powerful, silent thrust of electric propulsion.
With the second generation Taycan, Porsche has sharpened up its instrument considerably. The new Taycan accelerates even faster than its very quick predecessor. 100kph ticks by in as much as 0.6 seconds faster. The driver—and especially the passengers—should feel the gut-churning difference. Porsche accredits the increased quickness to higher output from its electric powertrain—up to 140 kilowatts more, for a total of 700kW (952ps), in the case of the Taycan Turbo S with Launch Control.
For instance, the Taycan’s rear axle motor has 80kW more than the previous car’s. A modified pulse inverter with optimized software, more powerful batteries, better thermal management with new heat pumps—contribute to the Taycan’s improved performance and efficiency. The powertrain is better at energy recuperation when decelerating. Aerodynamic wheels and reduced rolling-resistance tires, 21-inchers, also help.
Range, always a consideration with EVs, has not been compromised by the increased performance. Indeed, the new-generation Taycan has even longer range of up to 678km, 175km or 35 percent more than the previous car. This means less concern about charging when going long distances. With suitable charging stations, such as the fast charger available at Porsche Center Manila, the Taycan can now recharge from 10 to 80 percent in just 18 minutes.
All new Taycan models now come with adaptive air suspension as standard, with Porsche Active Ride suspension available on the all-wheel drive variants. The air suspension helps keep the Taycan’s body level even when the driver calls up the car’s considerable acceleration, braking, and cornering abilities. The system also provides a more comfortable ride by smoothing out bumps. There’s an available mode where the Taycan can raise its body for easier entry and exit, then lowering a few seconds after all the doors are closed.
Porsche has produced limited editions of the Taycan before, such as the Taycan Turbo K-Edition for the Korean market. The bright red car with custom paint, graphics, and interior elements, were inspired by cultural touchstones such as the Korean royal stamp.
The unique Taycan Turbo S Celestial Jade will go on tour around Southeast Asia. It will then be auctioned off for a good cause in 2025. It’s too bad that the 952-ps electric sports car is right-hand drive. Then again, this means that an opportunity to create another unique sports car, this time in left-hand drive, could be on the road ahead.
PH and South Korea: 75 years and counting