News
Porsche Taycan becomes first to charge at 270 kW on Electrify America’s Ultra-Fast DC Chargers
On the day of the Porsche Taycan’s unveiling, the all-electric sports car from Zuffenhausen traveled from Niagara Falls to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania after a record-setting charging session. This was made possible with not only the Taycan’s 800-volt architecture, but also Electrify America’s (EA) ultra-fast 270 kW DC Charger, currently the fastest rate in the industry.
The Porsche Taycan utilized Electrify America’s high-powered charger to replenish its 93 kWh battery from 5% to 80% in 22.5 minutes. The 250-mile journey from the U.S.-Canadian border to Bloomsburg, PA provides an optimistic teaser of the rapidly-growing high-powered charging infrastructure in the United States, outside of Tesla’s better-known global network of Superchargers.
“When Electrify America was formed, the idea of ultra-fast public charging was still very theoretical, and no 350 kW chargers were available to electric vehicle drivers. Today we are proud to showcase our network’s diligent engineering capability through successful, real-world 270 kW DC fast charging examples, finally making ultra-fast public charging a true reality,” notes Giovanni Palazzo, Chief Executive Officer of Electrify, in a press release.
The Taycan was initially announced by Porsche to be compatible with Electrify America’s maximum output of 350 kW, though the German carmaker opted to adjust this rate to 270 kW, citing current battery cell chemistry can not safely support higher power levels. Nevertheless, even at 270 kW, the Porsche Taycan and Electrify America’s ultra-fast DC chargers still represent the fastest EV charging rate available in the market today.
The volume of chargers has seen a drastic rise in both technological improvement and mass expansion across the world due to the increasing demand for electric cars throughout the world. Electrify America’s latest ultra-fast chargers is in response to the growing demand for time-efficient chargers that will allow more people to recharge their vehicles in a shorter period of time.
Tesla, for its part, currently utilizes a network of 150 kWh Superchargers V2 stations, though the company has begun rolling out a network of 250 kWh V3 Superchargers. Tesla’s new, more powerful V3 Superchargers, along with Electrify America’s new, high-powered EV chargers usher in a new era of super-fast EV charging. With faster charge times, EV owners across the board will spend less time at charging stations during long trips, and more time behind the wheel, decreasing overall trip time. According to Tesla’s March 2019 press release regarding the new, high-powered superchargers will allow peak rates of 250 kWh per car, giving owners of the Long Range Model 3 75 miles of charge in only 5 minutes.
News
Tesla ramps hiring for Roadster as latest unveiling approaches
Tesla published three new positions for the Roadster this week, relating to Battery Manufacturing, General Manufacturing, and Vision Engineering.
Tesla is ramping up hiring for positions related to the Roadster program, the company’s ultra-fast supercar that has been teased to potentially hover by CEO Elon Musk.
The company seems to be crossing off its last handful of things before it plans to unveil the vehicle on April Fool’s Day, just about four months away.
Tesla published three new positions for the Roadster this week, relating to Battery Manufacturing, General Manufacturing, and Vision Engineering. All three are located in Northern California, with two being at the Fremont Factory and the other at the company’s Engineering HQ in Palo Alto.
Technical Program Manager, Battery Manufacturing
Located in Fremont, this role specifically caters to the design of the Roadster to factory operations. It appears this role will mostly have to do with developing and engineering the Roadster’s battery pack and establishing the production processes for it:
“You will foster collaboration across design engineering, manufacturing, quality, facilities, and production to align with company priorities. Additionally, you will understand project opportunities, challenges, and dependencies; translate scattered information into concise, complete messages; and communicate them to every team member. As the business process development lead, you will develop, maintain, and implement tools and processes to accelerate battery manufacturing execution, achieve cross-functional alignment, and deliver highly efficient systems.”
Manufacturing Engineer, Roadster
Also located in Fremont, this role also has to deal with the concept development and launch of battery manufacturing equipment. Tesla says:
“In this role, you will take large-scale manufacturing systems for new battery products and architectures from the early concept development stage through equipment launch, optimization, and handover to local operations teams.”
Manufacturing Vision Engineer, Battery Vision
This position is in Palo Alto at Tesla’s Engineering Headquarters, and requires the design and scale of advanced inspection and control systems to next-generation battery products:
“You’ll work on automation processes that directly improve battery performance, quality, and cost, collaborating with world-class engineers in a fast-paced, hands-on environment.”
Developing and deploying 2D and 3D vision and measurement systems from proof-of-concept to deployment on high-volume battery manufacturing lines is part of the job description.
Roadster Unveiling
Tesla plans to unveil the Roadster on April 1, and although it was planned for late this year, it is nice to see the company put out a definitive date.
Musk said on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast in late October:
“Whether it’s good or bad, it will be unforgettable. My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars. I think if Peter wants a flying car, he should be able to buy one…I think it has a shot at being the most memorable product unveil ever.”
Production should begin between 12 to 18 months after unveiling, so we could see it sometime in 2027.
Investor's Corner
Tesla Full Self-Driving statistic impresses Wall Street firm: ‘Very close to unsupervised’
The data shows there was a significant jump in miles traveled between interventions as Tesla transitioned drivers to v14.1 back in October. The FSD Community Tracker saw a jump from 441 miles to over 9,200 miles, the most significant improvement in four years.
Tesla Full Self-Driving performance and statistics continue to impress everyone, from retail investors to Wall Street firms. However, one analyst believes Tesla’s driving suite is “very close” to achieving unsupervised self-driving.
On Tuesday, Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter said that Tesla’s recent launch of Full Self-Driving version 14 increased the number of miles traveled between interventions by a drastic margin, based on data compiled by a Full Self-Driving Community Tracker.
🚨 Piper Sandler reiterated its Overweight rating and $500 PT on Tesla $TSLA stock
Analyst Alexander Potter said FSD is near full autonomy and latest versions showed the largest improvement in disengagements, from 440 miles to 9,200 miles between critical interventions pic.twitter.com/u4WCLfZcA9
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) December 9, 2025
The data shows there was a significant jump in miles traveled between interventions as Tesla transitioned drivers to v14.1 back in October. The FSD Community Tracker saw a jump from 441 miles to over 9,200 miles, the most significant improvement in four years.
Interestingly, there was a slight dip in the miles traveled between interventions with the release of v14.2. Piper Sandler said investor interest in FSD has increased.
Full Self-Driving has displayed several improvements with v14, including the introduction of Arrival Options that allow specific parking situations to be chosen by the driver prior to arriving at the destination. Owners can choose from Street Parking, Parking Garages, Parking Lots, Chargers, and Driveways.
Additionally, the overall improvements in performance from v13 have been evident through smoother operation, fewer mistakes during routine operation, and a more refined decision-making process.
Early versions of v14 exhibited stuttering and brake stabbing, but Tesla did a great job of confronting the issue and eliminating it altogether with the release of v14.2.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also recently stated that the current v14.2 FSD suite is also less restrictive with drivers looking at their phones, which has caused some controversy within the community.
Although we tested it and found there were fewer nudges by the driver monitoring system to push eyes back to the road, we still would not recommend it due to laws and regulations.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2.1 texting and driving: we tested it
With that being said, FSD is improving significantly with each larger rollout, and Musk believes the final piece of the puzzle will be unveiled with FSD v14.3, which could come later this year or early in 2026.
Piper Sandler reaffirmed its $500 price target on Tesla shares, as well as its ‘Overweight’ rating.
News
Tesla begins Holiday Update rollout with some surprise features
On Monday, just a few days after Tesla first announced the Holiday Update, people started reporting that it was being deployed to owners.
Tesla has started the rollout of the 2025 Holiday Update, as several owners reported it had arrived in their cars via a software update.
Tesla’s Holiday Update is rolling out as Software Version 2025.44.25.1, and includes several new features. We did an extensive breakdown of what was included in another article, but we’ll list the new additions below:
- Grok with Navigation Commands (Beta) – Grok will now add and edit destinations.
- Tesla Photobooth – Take pictures inside your car using the cabin-facing camera
- Dog Mode Live Activity – Check on your four-legged friend on your phone through periodic snapshots taken of the cabin
- Dashcam Viewer Update – Includes new metrics, like steering wheel angle, speed, and more
- Santa Mode – New graphics, trees, and a lock chime
- Light Show Update – Addition of Jingle Rush light show
- Custom Wraps and License Plates – Colorizer now allows you to customize your vehicle even further, with custom patterns, license plates, and tint
- Navigation Improvements – Easier layout and setup
- Supercharger Site Map – Starting at 18 pilot locations, a 3D view of the Supercharger you’re visiting will be available
- Automatic Carpool Lane Routing – Navigation will utilize carpool lanes if enabled
- Phone Left Behind Chime – Your car will now tell you if you left a phone inside
- Charge Limit Per Location – Set a charge limit for each location
- ISS Docking Simulator – New game
- Additional Improvements – Turn off wireless charging pad, Spotify improvements, Rainbow Rave Cave, Lock Sound TRON addition
On Monday, just a few days after Tesla first announced the Holiday Update, people started reporting that it was being deployed to owners.
We noticed a new Tesla software update 2025.44.25.1 on a Model Y AWD LR (2022) in Florida, United States. View the rollout of this update here: https://t.co/rPqISQaNkM
— Teslascope (@teslascope) December 8, 2025
It seems the release is a bit of an apology to a particular group, as it has only made its way to Hardware 3 vehicles, particularly the ones using the AMD Ryzen chip.
Tesla has excluded FSD-purchased and subscribed vehicles that are utilizing Hardware 3, so it seems there is a strategy to this limited rollout.
Two Surprise Additions
Tesla has added two additional features with the Holiday Update, which include a new Storage Space for Dashcam feature that shows how much space you have used and remaining on your USB drive.
Additionally, Tesla gamified Supercharging with a new “Charging Passport” feature, which we reported on earlier today.
Tesla ramps hiring for Roadster as latest unveiling approaches
Tesla Full Self-Driving statistic impresses Wall Street firm: ‘Very close to unsupervised’
