Porsche Taycan configurator: The 11 details that stood out

The Porsche Taycan is here - actually two flavors, the Turbo S and the Turbo - in case you haven't seen the deluge of media coverage. The upshot: the "lower" priced Turbo starts at $150,900 while the Turbo S begins at $185,000.

While Porsche is promising cheaper variants of the Taycan next year, well-heeled drivers of the world will have to make do with these two options for now. But why limit yourself? It's a Porsche, it's a sports car, it's a status symbol and it's electric. Let's get to work on some dual vice and virtue signaling.

Luckily, the configurator is here, giving potential customers, Tesla fans and critics, or just regular folks dreaming of Porsche's first electric car, a chance to design their very own Taycan. No strings attached.

TechCrunch dove into the configurator. What we found were lots of opportunity to customize the vehicle, right down to the headlights, wheels and even the badge. Some of them are even "free." Here are the most interesting options.

For the purposes of this exercise, I'm going with the more frugal option, the Taycan Turbo. (And yes, the fact that an electric car has the word turbo attached to it, has not escaped me or TechCrunch. I'll remind everyone we live in a world where a four-door car is called a coupe.)

And I'm looking for all of the opportunities to get the free stuff, unless it's super cool, and then I'll theoretically (because this is a game of pretend) spring for the add on.

Porsche unveils the $150,900 Taycan Turbo electric sedan

1. Record scratch

Before I can even dive in, I am forced to choose a mobile charger for $1,120. There's another more expensive charging option that includes a home energy manager for $1,660, but it's not available yet.

And now, I see another option that I am forced to pay for. The fixed panoramic roof in glass is $1,490. For now, the Turbo S and Turbo come with the glass roof, but instead of making it standard, this is a required add on.

That $150,900 car now costs $153,510.

2. The free colors and the one you'll pay for

Customers entering the configurator are given two options: Turbo or the pricier Turbo S. Regardless of which one a customer chooses, there are 10 colors to choose from. Nine of those are gratis, meaning there is no extra fee. These "free" colors include white, black, and six metallic colors such as Carrera White, Jet Black, Volcano Grey, Dolomite Silver, Gentian Blue, Frozen Blue and Mamba Green.

One color comes with a price. The Carmine Red, pictured below, costs another $3,150.

The Carmine Red doesn't fall into my subjective no-cost-unless it's too cool category. (don't @ me) So, instead I opt for the $0 added cost Gentian Blue Metallic.

Actually scratch that. I live in the desert. Let's go with Carrera White Metallic.

3. Wheels

I could spend as much as another $7,650 for 21-inch exclusive design wheels with carbon fiber aero blades. But not this time. Instead, I go with the one $0 option, 20-inch Turbo Aero wheels. (See even the wheels are called Turbo). All season tires are $0.

But wait, what is this? For the bargain price of $1,290, I can paint the wheels to match the exterior color or pick from a few other custom options including wheels are fully painted in Satin Aurum (a champagne, rose gold color), high-gloss black, jet black, or satin platinum.

I pick the exterior color and then I'm met with a terrible reality. To get the exterior color on the wheels I have to opt for the 21-inch Mission E or Taycan design wheels, which cost $3,570. I swallow hard, pick the Mission E design wheels and move on.

For those who are counting, that base Taycan Turbo is now $xxx,xxx, a price that includes the charger, the design wheels and the painted wheel option.

Here's an example of the Carrera White Metallic with the Satin Aurum.

And another example of the matching exterior wheels.

4. Interior colors

Back in my frugal mindset, I scroll down to the configurator. There are three options for no additional cost, the all-black leather or two leather-free options, the race tex in black or graphite blue.

I pick the leather-free option of graphite blue. There six other options ranging between $570 and $3,070 of additional cost. I ignore these.

5. Seats

I have sat in the Turbo S. The seats are nice and snug and well made. In the configurator, the two options are standard and there is no extra cost. I can choose between power seats with 14 different functions and adaptive sport seats with 18-way operation. I go with the sporty option.

6. Dozens of options

From here, it can get expensive. There are dozens of options for the exterior and performance. The first item is under the label "options." There are two, both of which cost more money. The premium package of $4,340 includes the addition of a fixed panoramic glass roof (which I'm already paying for), park assist and "storage." It's unclear what storage means.

The performance package is $5,400 and is focused on the way the vehicle can be manipulated. This is a sports car after all. This option includes rear axle steering, the company's Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control Sport and something called "electric sport sound."

I skip all of these and continue to scroll for the free options.

7. No badge, no problem

I continue to scroll down and there are so many places to spend more money, including the window trim and the logo. But two items stand out. For no additional cost, I can remove the Taycan turbo" logo on the rear and I can add/remove the "electric logo" on the front doors in high gloss silver.

I'm told Porsche has had a long standing policy of letting customers remove the badge. And so, it seems Porsche is continuing this with the Taycan.

This seems cool, or maybe it's that $0 figure next to. I opt to remove the Turbo badge.

8. Performance

There are a number of different packages, but only one is "free." That's the two-speed transmission, which comes standard.

9. Lights

Sadly, there are no freebies here. But there is one fun item. One option, which costs $580, is the addition of LED lights in glacier blue.

This seems cool, but nah. Nothing flashy. Let's keep this sports car under budget.

10. Smoking package?

I head into the interiors section, where I'm confronted with an array of choices to further customize the Turbo. I'm looking for the $0 options and come across the only one, a smoking package. This package includes a plug-in ashtray for the front cup holder.

I pass.

11. Final $0 items

There are dozens more options that could take the Taycan Turbo into the pricing stratosphere. But for this experiment, I'm looking for value. I spot one more item that can be added for no extra cost. Door-sill guards in black brushed aluminum.

The remaining $0 items including charging cables.

Final rundown: Porsche Taycan Turbo with the glass roof, in metallic Carrera white and the special Mission E design wheels and matching exterior color, plus the no cost add-ons are $159,720. Next time, we'll shoot for how high we can get the price.