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Porsche flexes e-Motorsport prowess with GT4 ‘ePerfomance’
Porsche has shown off its electric GT4 ePerformance racecar at an ice track race in Sweden.
As a leader in vehicles that put a smile on your face, Porsche is under distinct pressure to bring that same excitement and joy to the EV transition, and it’s clear that it intends to do just that. First shown at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last year, the Porsche GT4 ePerformance has made another debut, this time at an ice track race in Northern Sweden.
At the Race of Champions event in Northern Sweden, Porsche got the opportunity to show off its GT4 ePerformance project, a car that is set to define the future of electric motorsports.
The Porsche GT4 ePerformance is a serious racecar, no question about it. Fitted with carbon fiber body panels, the tried and true aerodynamics of Porsche’s fastest racecars, and a stripped interior, it is the real deal and has the performance to back it up.
The full specifications of the vehicle are not yet known, but a surprising amount of information has been revealed over the past year. First of all, the ePerformance is designed to last a minimum of 30 minutes on the racetrack, what Porsche says is the equivalent of 1 Porsche Carera Cup race, allowing drivers to push the car to its absolute limit without the worry of a dead battery mid-race.
Second, the drivetrain, likely using a dual or tri-motor system, produces similarly insane power as its gas counterparts. It packs 603 horsepower for its 30-minute race setting or up to 1088 horsepower peak. But perhaps even more surprising is the car’s incredibly quick charging. According to Porsche engineers, the vehicle can charge from 5 to 8 percent in as little as 15 minutes thanks to its 900-volt architecture.
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While Porsche did not provide a statement on the vehicle or today’s race for that matter, Porsche’s Project Manager of Sales Oliver Schwab told Teslarati:
“The 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance blazes a trail to Porsche customer racing with electrically-powered racing cars. As a first step, we will unveil this concept to our global partners. With drivers, teams, organizers, authorities, and other interested parties, we’re also gathering ideas for Porsche racing formats in the future.”
To show off this incredible power, Porsche chose the ideal venue. For those unfamiliar, the “Race of Champions” (ROC) is a series of races that take place around the globe, forcing the best drivers on the planet to face off; on the same track, same car, and same day. This event includes participants such as four-time F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel, six-time American rally champion Travis Pastrana, ten-time F1 Champion Valtteri Botas, nine-time 24 Hour of LeMans winner Tom Kristenson, need I say more.
But merely coming to the event was not nearly enough for the thrill junkies from Stuttgart. The GT4 ePerformance was fitted with spiked tires and one of the largest wings I have ever seen mounted on a Porsche vehicle, allowing the car to rip and jump through the icy course with ease.
If this is the future of motorsport, I want it.
And thankfully, I (and many others) won’t have to wait much longer. While unconfirmed by Porsche, the high-performance electric 911 could very well make its production debut following the introduction of the company’s newest EV platform, PPE. And with the numerous benefits to handling, power efficiency, and weight reduction, the car could be a rocket ship.
According to a Porsche press release from late last year, the GT4 ePerformance will be headed to North America for the first half of this year, making a tour throughout the continent to show potential customers the incredible future of electric Porsche racing, and will ultimately end up in Asia after completing its grand tour.
Porsche has shown in today’s video that motorsports are here to stay and may flourish with the upcoming EV transition. With such a noble goal, who could oppose them? Who knows, with the dedication to its electric performance vehicle offerings, it might just be enough to drag a certain American EV maker to the same market. And if this product is a showing of Porsche’s future products, such a competitor might finally have something to worry about.
What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!
Elon Musk
SpaceX nails “Lucky 13” astronaut launch, leaning into Tesla tradition and superstition
SpaceX launched Crew-13 astronauts to the ISS Thursday, setting up a record fast Dragon docking.
SpaceX launched NASA’s Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station on Thursday morning, getting four astronauts to orbit despite a forecast of thunderstorms and gusty winds that had threatened to push the flight to Friday.
Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:10 a.m. ET carrying Dragon Grace, NASA confirmed. On board are NASA commander Jessica Watkins, NASA pilot Luke Delaney, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The first stage booster, B1101, landed at Landing Zone 40 beside the pad on its third flight after previously supporting Crew-12 and a Starlink mission.
Liftoff of Crew-13! pic.twitter.com/vteT0DXMTh
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 1, 2026
It was the first spaceflight for Delaney, Kutryk and Teteryatnikov. Watkins, who flew on Crew-4 in 2022, became the first NASA astronaut to launch aboard a Crew Dragon twice.
Before launch, the crew rode to the pad in Teslas, a tradition on NASA’s SpaceX crew flights since 2020. This time the cars carried specialty plates reading “Lucky 13.” Watkins said the mission patch leans into the number on purpose, as a nod to Apollo 13 and the resilience of that crew.
Grace is now on a short trip to the station. Docking at the forward port of the Harmony module is scheduled for about 7 p.m. ET, roughly 7 hours and 50 minutes after liftoff, which Space.com notes would be the fastest Crew Dragon transit to the ISS yet. Most Dragon flights take around 15 to 24 hours to catch the station. Hatch opening is planned for 8:25 p.m. ET.
The launch came more than two weeks later than originally planned. An oxidizer leak was found in Grace’s propulsion system in August, and NASA and SpaceX added time for tests. That pushed back the return of Crew-12, which has been aboard the station since February and is now set to splash down off Southern California next week. Crew-13 is expected to stay about six months.
SpaceX rescue mission for stranded ISS astronauts nears end — Here’s when they’ll return home
SpaceX already holds NASA orders for crew rotations through Crew-17, while Boeing is preparing an uncrewed Starliner flight to the station as early as December.
Crew-13 was only the first of three SpaceX launches planned for Thursday, as Teslarati previewed on Wednesday. A Falcon 9 launched its Transporter-18 mission from California today, where Google will be launching its first orbital artificial intelligence (AI) test satellite. Meanwhile, Falcon Heavy is set to launch the classified NROL-97 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Launch Complex 39A at 11:53 p.m. ET. Its two side boosters will return to Landing Zones 1 and 2, which means Central Florida could hear up to three sonic booms in a single day. The busy stretch follows Starship’s Flight 14 on Monday, which reached orbit for the first time.
Tesla has moved its Wireless Charging efforts for its electric vehicles forward, as it had a new patent published today, one that it submitted back in March.
The patent describes a system for detecting foreign objects on the wireless charging pad under varying temperatures, aiming to mitigate any undesired results that could come from something being on top of the charging pad.
🚨 Tesla has a new patent application published today, which was submitted back in March, for a Wireless Charging Pad:
“The present disclosure relates to methods and systems that can reliably detect foreign objects on a wireless charging pad under varying temperatures. In some… pic.twitter.com/LIeLfZAuDJ
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 1, 2026
The abstract of the patent states:
“The present disclosure relates to methods and systems that can reliably detect foreign objects on a wireless charging pad under varying temperatures. In some examples, an object detector can utilize a set of inductive coils included in resonant tanks, and excite the resonant tanks using signals in a range of frequencies including or near a nominal resonant frequency of the resonant tanks. The object detector can detect a metal object based on resistance of a coil increasing and inductance of the coil decreasing. By analyzing the shifts and/or distributions in resonant frequencies and output magnitudes (e.g., output voltage peaks), the object detector can distinguish between changes of frequencies and magnitudes caused by temperature and those caused by foreign objects to accurately detect the foreign objects.”
The object detection system will utilize a set of inductive coils included in resonant tanks, and “excite the resonant tank using signals in a range of frequencies including or near a nominal resonant frequency of the tanks.” Metal can be detected by an increase in the coil’s resistance and a decrease in the coil’s inductance.
By analyzing shifts or disruptions in resonant frequencies and output magnitudes, the system can detect foreign objects. These types of safeguards need to be implemented through the normal operation of the charging pads.
Tesla says its Cybercab wireless charging efficiency is ‘well above 90%’
Tesla plans to utilize wireless charging with Cybercab and Robotaxi-enabled units to help streamline the fully autonomous experience from A to Z. The last thing the company wants to do is have any sort of small obstruction preventing the rider from experiencing Robotaxi as intended.
Tesla has launched its newest iteration of the Model 3 in China with a slew of new features, including the highly requested V2L (vehicle-to-load) feature and a new interior option.
The Model 3 now has a 16″ front touchscreen with improved resolution, a black headliner, V2L capabilities, Zen Grey interior in the Premium and Performance trims, as the White option has officially been discontinued, and 19″ Dark Nova Wheels, which are standard on the Model 3 Premium only.
🚨 Tesla has launched the Model 3 in China with a variety of new features and specs:
✅ 16” front touchscreen
✅ Black Headliner
✅ V2L Capability
✅ Zen Grey interior (Premium & Performance only)
✅ 19” Dark Nova wheels (Model 3 Premium only)
✅ Zen Grey Interior option… pic.twitter.com/ltTAEIYi2Z— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 1, 2026
The touchscreen in the U.S. version of the Model 3 is just 15.4″, so the newly upgraded screen is .6″ larger. Additionally, the Black Headliner, now standard on Model Y vehicles in the U.S., is coming to China.
Additionally, Tesla’s decision to end the white interior option has also made its way to the Asian market, as Zen Grey is the lighter color consumers can now go with. It is slightly different from the previously offered White option:
These options are available in China, Australia, and New Zealand as well, as Giga Shanghai serves those markets, bringing its mass-market vehicles to those countries in the South Pacific.
The Model 3 trims are now priced at:
- Rear-Wheel-Drive – 235,500 yuan (~$35,000)
- Long Range Rear-Wheel-Drive – 259,500 yuan ($38,700)
- Long Range All-Wheel-Drive – 285,500 yuan (~$42,600)
- Performance – 339,500 yuan (~$50,600)
These features have yet to make their way to the U.S., which might upset some buyers, but it is probably a good sign that Tesla will bring these changes to U.S. trims sometime next year. Potentially, these could come even sooner, as they could be used to stimulate demand for the year-end sales push.
Nevertheless, when things start at Giga Shanghai, they usually end up in the U.S. market. Tesla has also already started to install things like the Black Headliner and larger touchscreen in certain U.S.-built vehicles, so these things will be easy to implement across other vehicles in the lineup.
SpaceX nails “Lucky 13” astronaut launch, leaning into Tesla tradition and superstition
Tesla moves forward on Wireless Charging for vehicles
