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Porsche flexes e-Motorsport prowess with GT4 ‘ePerfomance’

Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 ePerformance on track from behind in Valencia

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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!

Will is an auto enthusiast, a gear head, and an EV enthusiast above all. From racing, to industry data, to the most advanced EV tech on earth, he now covers it at Teslarati.

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Tesla is building its own maps to fix Navigation issues

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla revealed plans to develop its own maps internally to fix Navigation issues and give owners more control over their routing.

On the company’s Q3 2026 Earnings Call, a question was asked about FSD Navigation issues, particularly speed limit recognition, parking, and routing. These are issues that surface from version to version and seem to be seriously challenging for Tesla’s AI team to resolve.

Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, said in response to the question:

“You’re totally right that we shouldn’t be depending on external people’s maps. So we are building our own maps, but not like the same way as OneMoreMap. We are building an entirely new architecture with essentially AI-based mapping and navigation.”

He continued:

“It’s going to be super awesome. It’s going to be integrated with voice. You can talk to it, ask for different routes. It’s going to learn your personalized preferences, plus the fleet preferences. The collective intelligence of all the cars is going to flow into making the maps and navigation super cool.”

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Elluswamy said this issue should be confronted, and the mapping should be available for people by the time the v15 release starts deploying to customers.

“And over the next several months,” he added, “it’s just going to take over all of the navigation functions, parking, destination handling. And it will know you better than you know yourself in some regard for the driving task, and then handle it fully.”

Tesla Summon got insanely good in FSD v14.3.2 — Navigation? Not so much

Navigation is perhaps the most notable complaint with FSD, and although it has gotten better, it is still flawed. Much of the time, FSD will take people on routes that are not preferred by the driver, but Tesla tried to combat this with a routing feature in the Summer 2026 Update.

Tesla currently relies on Google for map data, but it is sort of counterintuitive to believe the company would rely on a third party for this. These improvements will be welcome, as routing and navigation have been such a pain point for so many owners for so long.

Quotes via Motley Fool

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Tesla buyers are buying for Full Self-Driving and not for the car, data shows

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) showed a record attach rate at delivery for new vehicles in the third quarter of 2026.

75 percent of new vehicle deliveries in North America included a subscription to FSD software, up from 55 percent in the prior quarter, a 20-percentage-point sequential gain in the company’s most mature market.

Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS

Tesla shed light on the Q3 Shareholder Deck that 75 percent of new deliveries came with an FSD subscription:

“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets. “

The higher attach rate accompanied strong growth in the overall FSD consumer base, as active subscriptions rose to 1.75 million, a 67 percent year-over-year increase. For the first time, more than half of paid customers are on the monthly subscription, which is priced at $99 per month in the U.S.

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The transition to subscriptions has accelerated since Tesla discontinued the one-time purchase option in most markets earlier this year. The recurring model improves revenue visibility and margins compared with large upfront payments. With three-quarters of North American deliveries now including FSD, the software is now an evidently large contributor to Tesla’s economics and ancillary revenue.

Geographic expansion remains important for further gains. FSD is now available in nine countries in the EU, and more than 100,000 customers have driven over 160 million kilometers. Tesla is pursuing broader EU-wide approval, with a related vote expected in December. Similar progress in additional markets could support higher attach rates beyond North America.

These results came as Tesla had a strong quarterly delivery performance of 486,532 vehicles in the quarter, which came with its largest passenger-vehicle backlog in four years. Battery supply continued to limit volume, but the company has pointed to FSD as a clear difference-maker that is helping sustain demand. As supervised capabilities improve, the attach rate will likely continue to improve.

At face value, it is a key measure of how Tesla is converting sales into autonomy progress.

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Tesla Cybercab gets a for sale date at last

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Credit: Tesla

Update: 10/22 10:51a – Para 1 consumers changed to “customers” for accuracy.

Tesla Cybercab units finally got a definitive date for when they will be able to be purchased by customers, ending speculation regarding whether the fully autonomous vehicle would be available in the near term.

During Tesla’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call on October 21, Vice President of Engineering Lars Moravy said the company is aiming to begin delivering its purpose-built Cybercab robotaxi to customers before year-end.

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“We’re trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year, 2026,” Moravy said. He added that production is underway on the line at Gigafactory Texas, but “all of those are currently going to our own internal Robotaxi fleet.”

Moravy explained that as operations scale, Tesla will “mainly deliver fully designed autonomous vehicles to our customers,” with the Cybercab as the first such vehicle. Initial customer deliveries will start small while the company gains experience with delivery logistics, ownership models, fleet management, and operating autonomous vehicles outside its direct control.

CEO Elon Musk reinforced the limited nature of private sales, describing the Cybercab primarily as a “transport-as-a-service” offering rather than a personal ownership vehicle like the Model 3, Model Y, or upcoming Roadster. “The vast majority of the Cybercab stuff will be Tesla-owned and transport-as-a-service,” Musk said.

The Cybercab is a two-seater vehicle developed by Tesla without a steering wheel or pedals. It relies completely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite and has been in production since February. Early units have been put in Tesla’s Robotaxi service as of early September, when the company launched rides to the public. Tesla previously indicated it would aim to sell Cybercabs for about $30,000.

Unsupervised Full Self-Driving is expected to ship to consumer cars during Q2 2027, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Head of AI, indicated during the call. Early buyers or fleet operators may receive vehicles whose autonomous operation remains geographically restricted due to lagging regulatory agencies. There are some hurdles that remain ahead of Cybercab deliveries.

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