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

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8 years ago

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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.

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.”

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“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.

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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.

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Tesla Cybercab fleet grows in Austin ahead of launch event

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46 minutes ago

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August 31, 2026

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Credit: Teslarati

Tesla is bolstering its Cybercab fleet with the State of Texas’s regulatory bodies ahead of the planned launch of the all-electric ride-hailing vehicle this Thursday.

Seven purpose-built Tesla Cybercabs have been added to Texas’s official automated vehicle registry, appearing in the Texas Motor Carrier Credentialing System (TxMCCS) public lookup just three days before Tesla’s invite-only Cybercab launch event in Austin on September 3.

The records, visible through TxDMV’s Motor Carrier and Automated Motor Vehicle Operator Lookup, list seven 2026 Tesla Cybercabs under Tesla Robotaxi, LLC. Their VINs begin with the 5YJA prefix, distinct from the 7SAYG Model Y robotaxis that already dominate Tesla’s Texas fleet.

Community trackers that scrape the same public database recorded the new entries on August 31, bringing Tesla’s authorized Texas robotaxi total to 276 vehicles: 269 Model Ys and the seven Cybercabs:

Texas Senate Bill 2807, which took effect in late May 2026, created a self-certification framework for commercial Level 4 operations. Operators file through TxMCCS, attest to SAE Level 4 capability, maintain insurance, and keep an active vehicle list.

Tesla completed that process months earlier for its existing Model Y Robotaxi service, which has carried paying passengers in Austin, Dallas, Houston and other markets. Adding the Cybercabs to the same authorization means the new two-seat, steering-wheel-free vehicles are now legally recognized for commercial use on Texas roads.

The timing is deliberate as Tesla scheduled the September 3 event at its Austin campus after sending invitations to selected Robotaxi riders and other guests. The company has described the evening as a chance to “experience the future of full autonomy” and plans to livestream it.

Production Cybercabs, which lack pedals and a steering wheel, have been rolling off the Giga Texas line for months; some earlier examples still carried temporary driver controls for data collection. Registering a small fleet of the finished design immediately before the public event signals that Tesla intends to move the purpose-built vehicle from factory and test tracks into the same Robotaxi app already used by Model Y passengers.

The seven units remain a tiny fraction of Tesla’s overall Texas authorization and far smaller than competing fleets. Registration does not automatically equal unsupervised public rides; it is the legal prerequisite.

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Still, the sudden appearance of Cybercab VINs in the state’s lookup system, after a year of Model Y-only listings, is the clearest official confirmation yet that Tesla’s dedicated robotaxi hardware is entering the regulatory pipeline at the same moment the company is preparing to show it to invited guests and a global livestream audience.

Whether those seven vehicles appear at the September 3 event or begin carrying passengers shortly afterward, their presence in TxMCCS marks a concrete regulatory step that has been anticipated since the Cybercab concept was first revealed.

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Tesla expands driverless Robotaxi geofence in Austin

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3 hours ago

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August 31, 2026

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Credit: @JoeTegtmeyer/X

Tesla has expanded the operational geofence for its driverless Robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, marking the first such increase in some time. The updated Service Area for Robotaxi in Austin now spans about 288 square miles and is roughly 9 percent larger than the previous boundary.

This incremental growth adds approximately 24 square miles of coverage, bringing the prior zone of roughly 264 square miles into a broader footprint that better serves northern suburbs.

The expansion extends the geofence northward toward Pflugerville along the US 183 corridor, incorporating additional neighborhoods north of the Domain and areas such as Mesa Park. These additions include higher-end residential and commercial districts that previously sat just outside the allowed operating zone.

Riders can now request unsupervised trips that begin or end in these newly included locations, provided the entire route remains inside the digital boundary:

Tesla first launched public Robotaxi operations in Austin in mid-2025 with a modest initial zone of about 20 square miles. Subsequent enlargements in 2025 and early 2026 steadily grew the map until it covered much of the metropolitan area.

After the last major update roughly ten months earlier, the company held the boundary steady while it collected additional miles and refined the FSD suite.

The modest nine percent increase still matters for daily utility. Longer trips become possible, more residents gain access, and the fleet can accumulate more diverse real-world data across new road types and traffic patterns. Observers note that the added territory aligns with existing Tesla service infrastructure, which could support more efficient vehicle staging in the North end of Austin.

Although the geofence has grown, Tesla continues to operate a relatively small unsupervised fleet in the city. The company has emphasized safety and software readiness over rapid geographic scaling. This latest map update signals that Tesla remains committed to expanding Robotaxi availability in its home market as it prepares for further software improvements and potential Cybercab deployments.

The 288-square-mile zone now gives Austin riders one of the larger driverless service areas currently available in the United States.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s Grok can basically control anything in your Tesla now

Published

3 hours ago

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August 31, 2026

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla’s 2026 Summer Update turns Grok from a talking companion into a true in-car controller, with considerably expanded capabilities. Where the assistant once answered questions and handled navigation, it can now operate hardware and software through ordinary speech, including several requests at the same time.

Grok has become incredibly robust over the past few quarters, and this new ability that Tesla has included with its Summer Update is perhaps the clearest sign of just how capable it has become.

You can issue many commands to Grok at once, and each will be taken care of: anything from headlight control to climate adjustments to mirror folding can now all be taken care of with a simple sentence spoken toward Grok:

Here’s another example I used in my Model Y:

Tesla’s official Release Notes list the core powers of Grok’s new capabilities: Grok can place phone calls from a paired phone, search a streaming service and queue music, adjust climate, and search the Controls panel. Drivers can also ask it questions about the vehicle or the latest features included in a recent software update.

It can also take care of driving settings, dynamics, and other relevant preferences that deal with how the car operates and handles.

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Tesla Summer Update begins rolling out: a look at the new features

It’s also more of a use case than a novelty feature. Grok was great for learning about something that was being pondered while Full Self-Driving was taking care of the major automotive responsibilities, but it did have some useful functionality when it came to navigation.

Another less-noted improvement is the swift transition that Grok has from thinking of its answer to giving you one. In the past, it would take a few seconds for Grok to truly come up with a valuable response. It now seems that it is improving, at least slightly.

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