Porsche Taycan bike rack review: proper gadget or an expensive gimmick?

What’s the tech?

A tow bar bike rack for a car with no tow bar.

How does it work?

Firstly, we need to address the no-tow bar thing. You can’t spec one on either the Taycan or Audi’s e-tron GT sister car. Porsche and Audi both assumed no-one would want to tow a caravan, horsebox etc. Unfortunately they forgot about bikes. Yes, you can carry them on the roof, but that ruins your aero and therefore your range.

Not wanting to miss out on a good bit of business, Porsche has come up with a suitably ingenious (but not inexpensive) solution for the Cross Turismo. Remove covers on either side of the rear diffuser and you’ll find open tubes. An aluminium pipe is inserted into each, twisted 45 degrees to lock, and then a folding bike rack mounts between them. It can carry two bikes, three with an extension pack.

What’s the reality?

Typically well engineered and easy to use. It folds up and dismantles for easy storage at home, and tilts to allow access to the boot. The set-up itself weighs 20kg and can carry up to 50kg of bikes, making it ideal for a pair of e-bikes to go with your e-car. You can have it with a little ramp to help wheel them on. It’s a great piece of design and removes the chief concern with tow bar racks: how on earth do they grip tightly enough to a greased metal ball?

The only issue is the cost. Porsche charges £380 to have the mounting points in the rear chassis rails (plus the electrical hook up point) and £1,822 for the rack itself. A similar set-up for the roof will cost you less than £500 – a saving that will buy you a lot of e-miles.

Gimmick or gadget?

Gadget. Chiefly because – as with so much Porsche does – it’s a pleasure to use. However, submissions to the US patents office suggest Porsche has applied for a tow bar that might work with the rear diffuser on its cars. By making that rear aero element mobile, it could be lowered to allow a tow bar to pop out, then raised back into position.