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The Porsche Taycan just drifted its way into the Guinness World Records

Porsche's EV now holds the record for longest continuous drift of an electric car.

Porsche Taycan drift record

The drift was completed in a Chinese-spec, rear-wheel-drive Taycan.

Porsche

The set a new mark recognized by Guinness World Records on Monday for the longest drift with an electric vehicle. Completed at the Porsche Experience Center at Germany's Hockenheimring, instructor Dennis Retera held a drift in a rear-wheel-drive Taycan for 55 minutes, covering 26.2 miles at an average speed of 28.6 mph.

The rear-wheel-drive Taycan is not currently on sale in most countries, so the car Porsche used for this record was a Chinese-spec model. The roadworthiness of the RWD Taycan was verified by Denise Ritzmann from European vehicle inspection company Dekra, herself a former drift champion.

Guinness World Records judge Joanne Brent officially certified the attempt, which took place on the PEC's wet skid pad. "GPS and yaw rate sensors within the vehicle were used for documentation purposes, as was a camera installed on the roof of the track's control tower, with which the record ride was filmed," Porsche said in a statement.

Impressive as this is, it's sort of a hollow victory. According to the Guinness World Records website, there is no current record for the longest drift with an electric vehicle, so the Taycan earns this honor simply because it's the first to try. But again, this is still a pretty great feat. I struggled like hell to get an all-wheel-drive Taycan to drift for even 30 seconds during my recent stint at the Porsche Experience Center in Los Angeles, let alone holding a slide for nearly an hour. Of course, the technique for drifting the AWD Taycan is different from that of the RWD Taycan, but that just makes me want to hit the skid pad in one of these Chinese-spec cars for some tail-out fun.

The Taycan Turbo S hits the track at Porsche's Experience Center

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Watch this: Taycan is a great first all-electric car from Porsche, but it's far from perfect
Steven Ewing Former managing editor
Steven Ewing spent his childhood reading car magazines, making his career as an automotive journalist an absolute dream job. After getting his foot in the door at Automobile while he was still a teenager, Ewing found homes on the mastheads at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog and Motor1.com before joining the CNET team in 2018. He has also served on the World Car Awards jury. Ewing grew up ingrained in the car culture of Detroit -- the Motor City -- before eventually moving to Los Angeles. In his free time, Ewing loves to cook, binge trash TV and play the drums.
Steven Ewing
Steven Ewing spent his childhood reading car magazines, making his career as an automotive journalist an absolute dream job. After getting his foot in the door at Automobile while he was still a teenager, Ewing found homes on the mastheads at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog and Motor1.com before joining the CNET team in 2018. He has also served on the World Car Awards jury. Ewing grew up ingrained in the car culture of Detroit -- the Motor City -- before eventually moving to Los Angeles. In his free time, Ewing loves to cook, binge trash TV and play the drums.

Article updated on November 23, 2020 at 3:01 PM PST

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Steven Ewing
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Steven Ewing Former managing editor
Steven Ewing spent his childhood reading car magazines, making his career as an automotive journalist an absolute dream job. After getting his foot in the door at Automobile while he was still a teenager, Ewing found homes on the mastheads at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog and Motor1.com before joining the CNET team in 2018. He has also served on the World Car Awards jury. Ewing grew up ingrained in the car culture of Detroit -- the Motor City -- before eventually moving to Los Angeles. In his free time, Ewing loves to cook, binge trash TV and play the drums.
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