One of the best things about Tesla ownership is that it's like a shield. When you drive a Tesla as I do, you need protection. Not from the Tesla haters. You need it from Tesla fans—the biggest snowflakes on Earth—who go absolutely nuts at the suggestion another car maker might bring a great electric vehicle to market.

That car is here, and my fellow Tesla owners aren't going to like what I have to say.

When the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Turbo S were launched in late 2019, Tesla fans rushed to criticize Porsche for premium pricing — $150,900 for the Turbo, $185,000 for the Turbo S—and seemingly suboptimal range. The pricing question? Please. I've owned three Porsches, but my last two new cars were Teslas. I loved them all, but let me tell you, Teslas ain't Porsches. If quality, comfort, touch points, road noise, personalization, reliability and resale didn't matter, Porsche would be out of business. But they do matter, which is why P-cars command a premium.

But what about the Porsche Taycan's range?

EPA regulators in America rated the Taycan Turbo at 201 miles, which isn't a good number for an electric vehicle at any price, seems a lot worse at $150,900, and is just terrible at $175,000+, because no one drives a Porsche off the lot without a stack of options. With Porsche, personalization is the point.

I didn't believe the EPA's 201 mile figure for the Taycan. I've driven almost every EV on the planet, including $1M Rimac Concept One — one of only eight in the world — which had 217 miles of range seven years ago. There was no universe in which Porsche would deliver an EV in 2020 with only 201 miles of range. I know the folks at Porsche. These are smart people. They know Tesla is out there. When Porsche held their big Taycan press event last September at Niagara Falls, they knew a Tesla Model S Long Range had an EPA rating of 370. The S Performance? 345 miles. The latest versions of the Model S have EPA ratings of 391 and 348 miles, respectively.

But Tesla's numbers have never really made sense to me either.

I've driven a lot of Teslas. I set the electric cross-country record three times: twice in a Model S, once in a Model 3. These are great cars, but I can tell you that there's no universe in which a Tesla can approach its EPA ratings in real-world driving. Every Tesla I've ever driven displayed wildly optimistic range projections. If my Model 3 — which sits on 18" aero wheels — indicates 100% battery and 311 miles of range, I might get 230 miles out of it on the highway, which is most of what I do.

I had a hunch. If Tesla's EPA and indicated range figures are optimistic, then could Porsche's figures be wrong in the other direction? Porsche has a long history of conservatism when it comes to specs. I was curious to find out what the Taycan could do under real world conditions, so I was thrilled when Porsche agreed to let me borrow two different Taycan Turbos, one to familiarize myself with the car in LA, and the other for an 800 mile round trip from Los Angeles to Phoenix and back.