New 2021 Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo is rugged EV estate

The Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo is an estate-shaped and off-road-ready take on Porsche’s first electric car, promising heightened versatility over the saloon.

Available to order now ahead of deliveries beginning this summer, the Cross Turismo is essentially a production-ready version of bold Mission E Cross Turismo concept, which was described at its unveiling in 2018 as a “cross utility vehicle”.

Most obvious among the raft of modifications for the new model, which Autocar has already driven in prototype form, is an extended roofline, which gives 47mm of extra head room in the rear seats and a maximum luggage capacity of more than 1200 litres – around the same as the Volkswagen Golf hatchback.

The upright tailgate design can optionally accommodate a bespoke bike rack, too, and Porsche has designed a new roofbox that’s rated for use at speeds of up to 124mph.

In line with its off-road aspirations, the Cross Turismo also wears a protective bodykit with debris-deflecting winglets at each corner and can be raised by 30mm in its dedicated Gravel Mode.

Designed for use on “gravel tracks of muddy road surfaces,” this bespoke function also alters the settings for the throttle, suspension management, traction control and torque-vectoring systems to provide maximum traction.

Air suspension is equipped as standard across the Cross Turismo range, and it can be configured to automatically raise and lower the car at certain points on repeated journeys to clear obstacles such as speed bumps or steep driveways. The system also automatically lowers the Cross Turismo in two stages at high speeds for optimal aerodynamic efficiency.

Broadly identical technically to First drive: 2021 its saloon sibling, the exclusively four-wheel-drive Cross Turismo is being offered from launch with a choice of four power outputs.