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Porsche begins to market the Taycan in dealerships through customer deposit program
The Porsche Taycan is expected to be released sometime next year, but the German legacy automaker is already starting its marketing efforts for the all-electric car. The stakes are high for the carmaker — if it can design the Taycan in such a way that it rivals the best electric vehicles on the market like the Tesla Model S, the company can establish itself as a leader in the emerging EV market. If the car comes up short of expectations, the Taycan will end up being delegated as a footnote in the list of electric cars that never reached their potential.
Porsche started accepting pre-orders for the vehicle earlier this year, though the company initially extended the offer to several selected countries such as Norway, partly due to the country’s open support for electric mobility. The pre-orders for the vehicle were extended to the United States recently as well, by means of a Deposit Option Program for customers residing in the country. Interested buyers can fill up an online form to be part of the program, after which they will be sent information and updates about the electric car from a selected Porsche dealer. An example of a pre-order form for US-based Porsche Taycan customers can be accessed here.
Porsche is yet to reveal the final production version of the Taycan. The legacy carmaker still uses the Mission E sedan concept in its promotional materials for the upcoming electric car. A number of camouflaged test mules have been made, but the test vehicles are disguised with elements that will surely not make it to the production model, such as twin exhaust pipes at the rear. Despite not revealing the car’s final production model, Porsche Managing Director Alexander Pollich announced last month that the company is seeing a strong, positive reception to the vehicle so far.
Among the legacy automakers that are currently developing an all-electric car, Porsche appears to be one of the most serious about its desire to transition into the electric mobility age. As details of the Taycan trickled out over the years, it became quite evident that the all-electric, four-door sedan would be a serious competitor to the mainstays of the EV industry like the Model S. Porsche even notes that the Taycan will have the same soul and pedigree found in its iconic gas-powered vehicles such as the Porsche 911. Former race car driver Mark Webber echoed this sentiment during a test drive of the car, stating that the Taycan handles and feels very much “like a Porsche.”
Back in 2014, Elon Musk stated that the hoped Tesla “could address the false perception that people have that an electric car had to be ugly and slow and boring like a golf cart.” Just a year after that, Porsche debuted the Mission E sedan concept car at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, and it has become a poster child for Porsche’s transition to electric mobility ever since. Porsche even expanded the Mission E line earlier this year, revealing a more rugged, off-road version of the vehicle dubbed as the Mission E Cross Turismo. The company also stated that by 2025, it aims for “every second Porsche sold to have an electric drive unit,” meaning half of its offerings would be fully electric while the other half will be plug-in hybrids.
The Porsche Taycan is expected to feature the legacy carmaker’s trademark performance, with the vehicle listed with a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds, a range of 310 miles per charge, and a top speed of 155 mph. The electric car is expected to be produced at a facility located at Zuffenhausen, a suburb in Stuttgart, Germany — the same factory where Porsche manufactures some of its finest vehicles like the 911, 718 Boxster, and the 718 Cayman. Porsche is expecting to manufacture 20,000 Taycans per year when it begins production.
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Tesla FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles
The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system has now surpassed 8.4 billion cumulative miles.
The figure appears on Tesla’s official safety page, which tracks performance data for FSD (Supervised) and other safety technologies.
Tesla has long emphasized that large-scale real-world data is central to improving its neural network-based approach to autonomy. Each mile driven with FSD (Supervised) engaged contributes additional edge cases and scenario training for the system.
The milestone also brings Tesla closer to a benchmark previously outlined by CEO Elon Musk. Musk has stated that roughly 10 billion miles of training data may be needed to achieve safe unsupervised self-driving at scale, citing the “long tail” of rare but complex driving situations that must be learned through experience.
The growth curve of FSD Supervised’s cumulative miles over the past five years has been notable.
As noted in data shared by Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt, annual FSD (Supervised) miles have increased from roughly 6 million in 2021 to 80 million in 2022, 670 million in 2023, 2.25 billion in 2024, and 4.25 billion in 2025. In just the first 50 days of 2026, Tesla owners logged another 1 billion miles.
At the current pace, the fleet is trending towards hitting about 10 billion FSD Supervised miles this year. The increase has been driven by Tesla’s growing vehicle fleet, periodic free trials, and expanding Robotaxi operations, among others.
With the fleet now past 8.4 billion cumulative miles, Tesla’s supervised system is approaching that threshold, even as regulatory approval for fully unsupervised deployment remains subject to further validation and oversight.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk fires back after Wikipedia co-founder claims neutrality and dubs Grokipedia “ridiculous”
Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”
Elon Musk fired back at Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales after the longtime online encyclopedia leader dismissed xAI’s new AI-powered alternative, Grokipedia, as a “ridiculous” idea that is bound to fail.
Musk’s response to Wales’ comments, which were posted on social media platform X, was short and direct: “Famous last words.”
Wales made the comments while answering questions about Wikipedia’s neutrality. According to Wales, Wikipedia prides itself on neutrality.
“One of our core values at Wikipedia is neutrality. A neutral point of view is non-negotiable. It’s in the community, unquestioned… The idea that we’ve become somehow ‘Wokepidea’ is just not true,” Wales said.
When asked about potential competition from Grokipedia, Wales downplayed the situation. “There is no competition. I don’t know if anyone uses Grokipedia. I think it is a ridiculous idea that will never work,” Wales wrote.
After Grokipedia went live, Larry Sanger, also a co-founder of Wikipedia, wrote on X that his initial impression of the AI-powered Wikipedia alternative was “very OK.”
“My initial impression, looking at my own article and poking around here and there, is that Grokipedia is very OK. The jury’s still out as to whether it’s actually better than Wikipedia. But at this point I would have to say ‘maybe!’” Sanger stated.
Musk responded to Sanger’s assessment by saying it was “accurate.” In a separate post, he added that even in its V0.1 form, Grokipedia was already better than Wikipedia.
During a past appearance on the Tucker Carlson Show, Sanger argued that Wikipedia has drifted from its original vision, citing concerns about how its “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” framework categorizes publications by perceived credibility. As per Sanger, Wikipedia’s “Reliable sources/Perennial sources” list leans heavily left, with conservative publications getting effectively blacklisted in favor of their more liberal counterparts.
As of writing, Grokipedia has reportedly surpassed 80% of English Wikipedia’s article count.
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Tesla Sweden appeals after grid company refuses to restore existing Supercharger due to union strike
The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons.
Tesla Sweden is seeking regulatory intervention after a Swedish power grid company refused to reconnect an already operational Supercharger station in Åre due to ongoing union sympathy actions.
The charging site was previously functioning before it was temporarily disconnected in April last year for electrical safety reasons. A temporary construction power cabinet supplying the station had fallen over, described by Tesla as occurring “under unclear circumstances.” The power was then cut at the request of Tesla’s installation contractor to allow safe repair work.
While the safety issue was resolved, the station has not been brought back online. Stefan Sedin, CEO of Jämtkraft elnät, told Dagens Arbete (DA) that power will not be restored to the existing Supercharger station as long as the electric vehicle maker’s union issues are ongoing.
“One of our installers noticed that the construction power had been backed up and was on the ground. We asked Tesla to fix the system, and their installation company in turn asked us to cut the power so that they could do the work safely.
“When everything was restored, the question arose: ‘Wait a minute, can we reconnect the station to the electricity grid? Or what does the notice actually say?’ We consulted with our employer organization, who were clear that as long as sympathy measures are in place, we cannot reconnect this facility,” Sedin said.
The union’s sympathy actions, which began in March 2024, apply to work involving “planning, preparation, new connections, grid expansion, service, maintenance and repairs” of Tesla’s charging infrastructure in Sweden.
Tesla Sweden has argued that reconnecting an existing facility is not equivalent to establishing a new grid connection. In a filing to the Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, the company stated that reconnecting the installation “is therefore not covered by the sympathy measures and cannot therefore constitute a reason for not reconnecting the facility to the electricity grid.”
Sedin, for his part, noted that Tesla’s issue with the Supercharger is quite unique. And while Jämtkraft elnät itself has no issue with Tesla, its actions are based on the unions’ sympathy measures against the electric vehicle maker.
“This is absolutely the first time that I have been involved in matters relating to union conflicts or sympathy measures. That is why we have relied entirely on the assessment of our employer organization. This is not something that we have made any decisions about ourselves at all.
“It is not that Jämtkraft elnät has a conflict with Tesla, but our actions are based on these sympathy measures. Should it turn out that we have made an incorrect assessment, we will correct ourselves. It is no more difficult than that for us,” the executive said.
Tesla FSD (Supervised) fleet passes 8.4 billion cumulative miles
Elon Musk fires back after Wikipedia co-founder claims neutrality and dubs Grokipedia “ridiculous”
