Connect with us

News

Porsche Mission E pre-production pics reveal new details about Tesla rival

Published

on

Details of the pre-production variant of Porsche’s rival to the Tesla Model S, the Mission E, was recently revealed in the German carmaker’s Annual & Sustainability report for 2017. The images of the Mission E pre-production units reveal similarities and changes to the vehicle’s eye-catching concept that Porsche revealed during the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Details of the pre-production Mission E in Porsche’s recent report include the electric car’s passenger doors, which appear to have taken a step away from the concept version’s suicide doors. The pre-production design’s front, however, carries over much of the details found on the concept, including the eye-catching aerodynamic lines that bend into the car’s headlights.

The pre-production Mission E’s storage spaces were also visible in the images provided by the German legacy carmaker. Based on the photos, the frunk of the pre-production Mission E appears to be in the same ballpark as the Model 3. Thanks to its broad-hipped design, the Mission E’s rear trunk seems to have a lot of space as well. 

Also included in the report is an image of the vehicle’s charge port, which is designed to be compatible with the IONITY charging network. As we noted in a previous report, the IONITY network, which is built in collaboration by the Volkswagen Group, BMW Group, Daimler AG, and the Ford Motor Company, is designed to rival Tesla’s Supercharger network. IONITY exceeds the current output of Tesla’s 120 kW Superchargers, with an output of 350 kW. With this charging infrastructure in place, Porsche claims that the Mission E could gain 248 miles of range in as little as 15 minutes. 

According to a recent report from GearBrain, however, Porsche’s pay system for the IONITY network would be on the other side of the spectrum as Tesla’s Superchargers. Tesla’s high-powered Superchargers charge Model 3 owners every time they use the infrastructure, but owners of the Model S and Model X — the Elon Musk-led company’s flagships — can use the chargers for free.

Advertisement

In a statement to the publication, Porsche’s deputy chairman of the executive board Lutz Meschke noted that the company would bill Mission E owners for charging services from day one of ownership. The executive also noted that the rates for the IONITY network would be comparable to the prices of gasoline. The Porsche executive also downplayed the business model of Tesla’s charging infrastructure, stating that the Supercharger network “was only free for a while.”

“Yes, but it (Tesla’s Supercharger network) was only free for a while. You can not run things like this; you have to earn money from these services. We want to earn money with the new products and services,” Meschke said.

The Porsche executive’s statement about the Supercharger network’s rates is only partly true, of course, as only Model 3 owners are adopting a pay-per-use model. In a recent statement on its website announcing a price adjustment for the service, Tesla even asserted that the company is not looking to make money from the Supercharger network.

“Tesla is committed to ensuring that Supercharger will never be a profit center,” Tesla wrote.

Advertisement

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

xAI’s Grok 3 partners with Oracle Cloud for corporate AI innovation  

Elon Musk’s xAI partners with Oracle to deliver Grok 3 to enterprise users via OCI. The move boosts Grok’s reach.

Published

on

Credit: Elon Musk | X

xAI’s Grok 3 is partnering with Oracle Cloud to deliver its advanced AI model to corporate customers.

Oracle announced its collaboration with xAI earlier this week. The partnership leverages Oracle’s robust infrastructure to offer xAI’s Grok 3, positioning it as a transformative tool for business applications.

“Today, we announced xAI has selected Oracle to offer xAI’s Grok models via OCI Generative AI service for a wide range of use cases and will use OCI’s leading AI infrastructure to train and run inferencing for its next-generation Grok models,” said Clay Magouyrk, Executive Vice President at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, via LinkedIn.

Oracle’s cost-effective AI capabilities will support xAI’s demanding workloads, enabling faster processing for enterprise users.

Advertisement

Oracle’s Karan Batta told Reuters: “Our goal here is to make sure that we can provide a portfolio of models – we don’t have our own.” Oracle will host Grok 3 alongside models from Meta, Mistral, and Cohere, ensuring corporate data remains secure within existing Oracle protections.

Oracle’s strategy focuses on integrating popular AI models into corporate software, and xAI’s Grok 3 enhances this portfolio. The collaboration expands Grok’s reach to businesses seeking secure, high-performance AI solutions for diverse use cases.

Elon Musk’s xAI launched Grok 3 in February. It competes with models from DeepSeek and OpenAI. Grok 3 is free for all X users, but features are limited. X offers Premium and Premium+ subscribers access to Grok 3’s advanced capabilities like DeepResearch and Think modes. Users who are not paid subscribers have access to Grok 3’s basic features.

Elon Musk’s companies have a longstanding relationship with Oracle. In 2018, Tesla appointed Oracle founder Larry Ellison to its board, a move Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives called a “home run appointment.”

In 2023, Ellison–who is no longer on Tesla’s board but still close with Musk–revealed plans for a Tesla Cybertruck police car.

Advertisement

“Our next-generation police car is coming out very soon,” Ellison said at the 2023 Oracle CloudWorld conference in Las Vegas. “It’s my favorite police car. It’s my favorite car, actually. It’s Elon’s favorite car.”

Grok 3’s integration into Oracle Cloud strengthens xAI’s position in the corporate artificial intelligence market. By combining Oracle’s infrastructure with Grok’s cutting-edge capabilities, this collaboration could redefine enterprise AI adoption, driving innovation across industries.

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Tesla Robotaxis are becoming a common sight on Austin’s public roads

Tesla Robotaxi sightings are becoming much more frequent ahead of its launch planned for this month.

Published

on

Credit: @Muzeishen | X

Tesla Robotaxis are becoming a common sight on the public roads of Austin, Texas, as yet another test mule has been spotted near the company’s target launch date.

Just over a week ago, the first public sighting of a driverless Tesla Robotaxi was reported. The vehicle was an updated version of the Tesla Model Y, which will be the initial model used in the public deployment of the Robotaxi platform.

Throughout the past week, sightings have been more common, as people in Austin have been looking for the unique decal Tesla is placing on car doors to recognize the driverless vehicles (After all, Robotaxis are not as easy to recognize as driverless vehicles without the LIDAR unit on the roof like Waymo).

Yet another sighting of a Robotaxi was shared on social media today, just two days before CEO Elon Musk’s proposed launch date of June 22:

It is easy to tell that there is nobody in the driver’s seat of this vehicle. Tesla is using its white interior on this particular mule, making it incredibly simple to recognize that no human is controlling the car.

Whether Tesla will still meet the June 22nd deadline remains to be seen, but it is no secret that the company is prioritizing safety ahead of offering public rides.

Tesla will initially roll out the Robotaxi platform in Austin, but it has already started the regulatory process in other areas, specifically California.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is also helping to streamline the process for companies developing driverless vehicles by giving exemptions to automakers. It will make things much more efficient, benefiting Tesla and other car companies that have similar plans.

Tesla Robotaxi just got a big benefit from the U.S. government

Continue Reading

Elon Musk

Elon Musk teases Tesla Optimus Gen 3 capabilities: ‘So many improvements’

If you thought Optimus Gen 2 was impressive, Tesla might have a surprise for you.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Optimus | X

Elon Musk has teased that huge improvements are coming to Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot, which is arguably the product that the company is developing with the most potential for everyday use by consumers and valuation increases from a financial perspective.

Optimus is still in the development stages, but Tesla has made great strides in its development over the past several years. It started as a simple idea that was unveiled with a human being in a spandex suit.

Tesla posts Optimus’ most impressive video demonstration yet

Just a few years later, Tesla has developed several humanoid robot prototypes that have made their way to influencers and have lent a helping hand around the company’s manufacturing facilities.

Tesla has already introduced two generations of Optimus, as the most recent release featured a vast number of improvements from the initial version.

The following is a list of things Tesla improved upon with Optimus Gen 2 compared to Gen 1:

  • Tesla introduced a weight reduction of roughly 22 pounds, improving efficiency and agility
  • Optimus Gen 2 had a walking speed that improved by 30 percent over Gen 1
  • Tesla developed more capable hands that had 22 degrees of freedom, double that of Gen 1. This improved object handling
  • Optimus Gen 2 had a 2-degree-of-freedom neck, as Gen 1’s was fixed
  • Tesla integrated actuators and sensors for better performance. This includes things like foot force/torque sensing, articulated toe sections that are close to human foot geometry for better balance and movement
  • Optimus Gen 2 has 28 degrees of overall freedom, improving flexibility from the first generation
  • Tesla’s Optimus Gen 2 can do more than Gen 1, and has shown improved motor control and precision, doing things like squats, yoga poses, dancing, and even poaching an egg

These changes essentially brought Tesla closer to what will be the Optimus version that makes it to production. The company has plans to start production for the public in 2026, but some units will be manufactured for internal use within its factories as soon as this year. Tesla has said it could scale to 100,000 units or more by next year.

Musk also revealed to Teslarati recently that the company is in the process of building the production line that will bring manufacturing rates of Optimus to that level.

However, there is another design of Optimus coming, and Musk says it will feature “so many improvements”:

Tesla has said that Optimus will have the capability to perform tedious and time-consuming tasks like folding laundry, babysitting, cooking, walking the dog, and plenty of other things. However, it will be super impressive to see it do things that require true coordination, like threading a needle, for example.

Musk did not hint toward any specific developments that Tesla will aim for with Optimus Gen 3, but the sky is the limit, especially as it will be performing some manufacturing tasks across its factories.

Continue Reading

Trending