When it was announced in the Mission E concept four years ago, the Porsche Taycan’s 800-volt infrastructure and up to 350-kw charging capacity was far ahead of anything on the horizon. Adding 60 miles of range in four minutes sounded far-fetched—if not sheer fantasy.

Since then, automakers such as Tesla have announced similar charging rates for their cars and Porsche dealers—plus Electrify America, EVgo, and soon others—have added a modest amount of infrastructure to make that fantasy a reality.

We drove the 2020 Porsche Taycan across Denmark, from Copenhagen to northern Germany for roughly 400 miles through side roads and stretches of the autobahn, including unrestricted runs for about 45 miles. With the Taycan’s estimated range around 256-280 miles, based on the WLTP, our journey required charging stops.

Twice along the route, we tested the Taycan’s high-speed charging at Ionity chargers in Denmark and Germany. Ionity is a charging co-op created by Volkswagen Group, Ford, BMW, and Daimler with more than 100 locations throughout Europe. According to the company, by 2020 there will be roughly 400 stations throughout Europe with up to 350-kw chargers to support fast-charging vehicles such as the 2020 Porsche Taycan.

The charging stations mirror closely the infrastructure that Electrify America plans for the U.S. Electrify America, a subsidiary of Volkswagen of America, turned on its first 350-kw charger last year with 300 more planned throughout the U.S. this year. Eventually, Electrify America says it will include two 350-kw chargers at Electrify America stations with more than 10 chargers and will offer one 350-kw connector at stations with four or more chargers.

Charging the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo

Charging the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo

Our Taycan Turbo S arrived at the first charging stop in Nyborg, Denmark showing 24% remaining in the 93.4-kwh battery after starting with more than 85%. Porsche showed us how to swipe open the charging doors placed on the front fenders—one side for DC fast-charging with a CCS connector, and the other an AC connector that can be used with the 11-kw cable supplied by Porsche for home-charging.

When we arrived, we connected the CCS cord to the Taycan and initiated the charging session, which required tapping a payment card to the station.

Porsche’s intelligent range manager software, a spend-up extra, will calculate efficient routes between destinations, including charging stops. If the Taycan would arrive at its destination with 13% or less battery remaining, the software plans a nearby stop. (If driven wholly in Range mode, which is the most efficient mode, it will calculate a stop if the remaining battery is 6% or less.)

Charging the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo Charging the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo Charging the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo

Using the navigation information, the Taycan will pre-condition the battery to roughly 86-95 degrees Fahrenheit, the optimal temperature for the lithium-ion cells to accept the charge.

We arrived at the Nyborg station with 34 degrees Celsius showing on the battery temp gauge, primed to accept a charge.

Upon connecting, the indicated charge power started at roughly 70 kw, but accelerated rapidly from there. Our peak power of 250 kw happened around 27% state of charge, and leveled off until around 40%, 6 minutes later, when it slowed to around 150 kw until our finished charge at 80%. In total, we charged for about 15 minutes to reach 80%.

The only indication that we were charging at a higher-than-average speed was the liquid-cooled cable that vibrated slightly. Three clicks initiated the session, and beyond that, the chargers were completely silent.

Our journey to the second charging session was far more precarious.

Tasked with testing the Taycan’s range from Børkop to just outside Hamburg along a 4-hour route for roughly 300 km, we arrived at the Ionity charging station with 2% battery remaining—far less than many Taycan owners will find intentionally—and a 34 degree Celsius battery temp.

We plugged in the Taycan Turbo to the charging station and the flow up to 231 kw spiked immediately, within 30 seconds. The charger maintained a charge power of more than 200 kw for nearly 10 minutes before tapering down to 140 kw at about 60% battery state of charge.

We charged the Taycan Turbo for more than 22 minutes, up to 80% battery before we disconnected with plenty of range to make it to Hamburg via unrestricted autobahn.

High-speed charging the Taycan gave us a glimpse of near-future infrastructure and how it will charge electric vehicles today. No longer a fantasy, the reality for many owners will be much quicker charging than in recent history.