New Porsche e-bikes are the most affordable Porsche ever

If you’ve always wanted to own a Porsche but couldn’t justify the German brand’s steep cost of entry, your chance may finally be here. The luxury automaker just launched two e-bikes alongside its Taycan Cross Turismo.

The two e-bikes, one for paved surfaces and one eMTB, aren’t exactly cheap. They are, though, more affordable than the brand’s fully motorized options. And the Porsche eBike Cross, the eMTB, is actually almost in line with comparable bikes from more traditional cycling brands. This probably says more about how the cycling industry prices eMTB than it does about Porsche.

Porsche eBike Sport

Porsche’s eBike Sport is the everyday bike of the two, destined for smoother surfaces. At USD$10,700, it’s actually the more affordable of the two new bikes. And it is definitely affordable compared to the USD$91,000 Taycan Cross Turismo the e-bike arrives as an accessory for.

For that price, though, the carbon fibre eBike Sport does come with electronic Shimano shifting, via 11-speed Shimano XT Di2, and Shimano’s new EP8 motor. It rides on a fancy inverted Magura fork and Fox rear suspension. There are also integrated Supernova M99 LED lights integrated into the handlebars.

The hefty bike, which looks quite a bit like its off-road sibling, weighs just shy of 48 lbs, It has fully internal routing for wires and Magura disc brake hoses, and a top speed of 25 km/h.

Both bikes are designed to fit the integrated bike rack that comes as an option on the outdoorsy Taycan Cross Turismo electric station wagon. German e-bike brand Rotwild helped with the design of both bikes.

Porsche eBike Cross

That brings us to the offroad Porsche eBike Cross eMTB. Porsche decks the Cross out with a mechancial Shimano XT 12-speed drivetrain, EP8 motor, Crankbrothers wheelset and dropper seat post. It has the same inverted Magura fork and Fox rear suspension as its “road” counterpart, but more trail-worthy tires.

Compared to the eBike Sport, or the Taycan, Porsche gives the eBike Cross a relatively reasonable price tag of USD$8,550. Also designed in conjunction with Rotwild, the Cross weighs in at 47.8 lbs.

That is a lot of money, yes.  CNET describes that as “hideously expensive,” and Top Gear points out that a second-hand Boxter could be thrown on a trailer for about the same cost as filling the integrated bike race. It is also, though, in line with what traditional bike companies are charging for similar eMTBs.

A Trek E-Caliber’s XT build is, for reference, CAD$ 11,150. While both have carbon fibre frames, the Trek sheds a good 10 lbs. off the Porsche’s weight. Rocky Mountain’s Instinct Powerplay Carbon 70, also an XT-level build, is $10,500. Specialized’s Turbo Levo Expert Carbon  – a SRAM XO1 Eagle bike – is CAD$12,300.

To be fair, we’d way rather ride any of those eMTB’s than Porsche’s eBike Cross. They are miles ahead in design. But, if Porsche is your comparable for price point, maybe bike prices are getting a bit out of hand?