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Porsche Mission E hits the test track with former Formula One driver

[Credit: Porsche/YouTube]

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Porshe’s highly-anticipated all-electric Mission E was recently taken for a spin at the automaker’s test track in Weissach, Germany by Ex-Formula One driver Mark Webber.

As could be seen in a short video posted on Porshe’s official YouTube channel, Webber took the car around the steep curves of its test track at high speeds. Webber praised the car, calling it “a game-changer” and a “gorgeous piece of machinery.” The professional driver even compared the Mission E to his old race car.

“It reminded me, at times, a lot of the (Porsche) 919 because often, we could drive this car just on E-motor alone and on the electromobility side. So, I lot of what I say stealth in motion, stealth performance. It’s absolutely, clearly, a Porsche.”

As an ambassador and former driver for Porsche’s Motorsport Team, Webber might have some bias towards the Mission E. He, after all, raced for the legacy automaker from 2014-2016 using the Porsche 919 Hybrid, a hybrid sports-prototype racing car that the company designed to win Formula One endurance races like the FIA World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Mission E is an all-electric all-wheel-drive car that is seen as a potential rival to the Tesla Model S. It is capable of sprinting to 60 mph in under 3.5 seconds, has a range of 310 miles, and a max speed of 155 mph. The lithium-ion batteries of the vehicle run the length of the floor and can gain 80% of its range back in 15 minutes using an ultra-high-powered charging network, according to the automaker. A Porsche executive also stated that the Mission E is designed to maintain top speed and acceleration under track driving conditions.

The Mission E is expected to arrive in North Americain in 2019. Before that, Porsche Cars North America will be building 500 fast chargers in the United States. The car is compatible with the IONITY charging network, a system of ultra-high-powered chargers that have an output of 350 kW.

Unlike Tesla’s Superchargers, Porsche’s IONITY network will be a source of profit for the carmaker. In a past interview with Automotive News, Porsche Cars of North America CEO Klaus Zellmer said, “we are pretty certain that it’s not free of charge.”

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A recently-revealed variant called the Mission-E Cross Turismo was also announced back in April at the Geneva Motor Show as a more rugged alternative to the four-door Mission E sedan. The Cross Turismo is expected to hit the market early next decade.

Watch Mark Webber’s test drive of the Porsche Mission E in the video below.

Isaac Banks is a reporter who is fascinated with space, Tesla, and the outdoors. When he is not writing or hiking, you can find him playing video games. Follow him on twitter

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Tesla launches V2L Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y in the U.S.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has launched a new Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) Outlet Adapter for Premium Model Y vehicles in the United States, meaning you can now power devices like laptops or light strings with your vehicle’s battery.

It appears the capability will be available for any Model Y Premium trim, including those that were purchased prior to the Adapter being launched. It will also only impact Juniper Model Y vehicles, so the first-gen owners will unfortunately not have access to this capability.

If your Model Y was purchased before Tesla renamed the trim levels to “Premium” and “Standard,” it does not seem to be compatible. My Model Y is technically a Premium build, as it is the Long Range All-Wheel-Drive. However, Tesla says it is not compatible with my vehicle.

For $80, you can now utilize your car as a portable charger for small appliances or devices. This is perfect for things like tailgates, concerts, or camping, as you can now plug in devices that you might use. Those string lights for camping? That laptop for the other games that are on at the tailgate?

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They’ll both utilize energy from your Tesla’s battery to be powered. This is the first time Tesla has expanded the capability to vehicles outside of the Model Y Performance and Cybertruck. However, this feature has been highly requested by owners for an extended period of time.

Tesla launched the Outlet Adapter in China last year:

Tesla China rolls out Model Y L V2L adapter, and it’s free for early owners

You will need the Mobile Connector to operate the Outlet Adapter: the Outlet Adapter will plug into the main housing of the Mobile Connector, where the appropriate adapter to charge your vehicle will plug in.

It is rated for 120 volts and 20 amps, and has a max power rating of 2.4kW.

You can buy it here from Tesla for $80.

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Tesla Roadster unveiling nears, and it will fly: The Information

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(Credit: Dami Kolz/Twitter)

Tesla is nearing its long-awaited unveiling of the all-electric Tesla Roadster, a new report from The Information claims, as the company has said several times this year that the event would take place “soon.”

Now, it appears there is movement on Tesla’s end regarding when it will happen.

The report says that Tesla will unveil the Roadster as soon as this month with a SpaceX version that will utilize cold-gas thrusters to help the vehicle float for a short period of time. This is something CEO Elon Musk has talked about with the Roadster for years.

Additionally, due to the delays, Tesla explored “a variety of designs” for the Roadster, potentially planning to abandon the design it showed off for the first time in 2017 and adopting an entirely new aesthetic.

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According to The Information, Tesla considered utilizing a repurposed Model S Plaid and even wanted to upgrade the look to something like a Lamborghini Countach.

Elon Musk teases Tesla Roadster unveiling once again

We’ve heard all of these things before, including teases about the date and how “soon” the Roadster will finally be ready to be shown off to the world (for the second time). Musk said that the event would occur in April, then May, then Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen continued to say it would be coming “soon.”

We do expect to see the Roadster by the end of the year, and now with this new report swirling, it appears it could be sooner rather than later.

The wait has been incredibly long, but there is likely a good reason for it. Tesla’s desire to make the Roadster the craziest vehicle on the road was non-negotiable, and it likely took a lot of time and resources to develop and perfect into something that was safe and suitable for a vehicle like this.

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Tesla finally got its Nevada Robotaxi Permit but with a few catches hard to miss

Nevada granted Tesla’s robotaxi permit, but capped the fleet at just ten vehicles for now.

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Concept art of a Tesla Cybercab in Las Vegas Strip as rendered via Grok

Tesla has received its robotaxi permit in Nevada, more than two months after regulators closed the public comment period on the company’s application. News of the approval surfaced Wednesday night when Tesla investor and longtime company watcher Sawyer Merritt posted a copy of the interim order, and the Nevada Transportation Authority’s own carrier registry now lists the permit, AVNC Permit 002 under Docket 26-05015, as active for Tesla Robotaxi, LLC.

Tesla asked Nevada in June for authority to run up to 5,000 vehicles in Clark County within a year, however the permit the NTA issued is initially capping Tesla at ten fully autonomous vehicles and confines them to a defined geofence along the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Any expansion of that operating area, or any increase to the fleet size, requires the NTA’s approval first.

The order also sets rules that look more restrictive than what Tesla runs in Austin. Rides are barred on roads with posted speed limits above 45 miles per hour, pickups are off limits within a quarter mile of Harry Reid International Airport without separate authorization, and every vehicle has to carry visible “Robotaxi” markings while notifying riders before each trip that no one is driving. The order also requires “appropriate human supervision”, language that suggests Nevada isn’t ready to let Tesla offer the rides without a safety monitor that it has run in parts of Austin since January. As with standard protocol with robotaxi services, Tesla must report any accident, system failure, or vehicle that becomes stranded on a Nevada road within five business days.

Tesla is entering a market Nevada already knows well. Zoox, the Amazon owned robotaxi company, has run its own autonomous vehicle permit in the state since last year, building up to roughly 100 vehicles and 350,000 rides along the Strip. That history likely explains why the NTA started Tesla at ten cars rather than the fleet size the company asked for. The agency has a template for scaling a permit up once a company proves out its safety record.

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Tesla’s Nevada application first surfaced in June, when the company filed for the permit alongside plans for a maintenance hub in southwest Las Vegas. The company has said it won’t meaningfully scale its robotaxi fleet anywhere until FSD v15 ships, expected in late 2026 or early 2027, which makes the ten vehicle cap less of a constraint today than it might look on paper. For now, Tesla has the legal right to start Nevada rides. Whether it starts before FSD v15 arrives is a separate question the permit doesn’t answer.

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