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Porsche Taycan gets three years free charging, 320 kW “Turbo Chargers” coming to dealer network
As Porsche prepares for the launch of its first all-electric car — the highly-anticipated Taycan — the carmaker has begun setting the stage for the vehicle’s rollout in the United States. On Monday, Porsche Cars North America, Inc. (PCNA) announced an agreement with Electrify America to provide the Taycan with three years of unlimited fast charging at public stations across the country. With this system in place, as well as Electrify America’s ongoing expansion, the Taycan would be capable of long-distance, coast-to-coast travel.
In a press release about the update, Porsche noted that the charging perk would be included in the Taycan’s selling price. Under the system, Taycan buyers would receive three years of unlimited 30-minute fast charging at Electrify America locations, which is comprised of over 300 highway stations in 42 states, on top of more than 180 sites in 17 select metro areas. The established carmaker stated that each Electrify America location would have an average of five charging stalls, while some sites would have enough support for up to 10 vehicles at once.
Apart from its deal with Electrify America, Porsche has also announced that its dealers would be installing their own fast-charge Turbo Charger kiosks for the company’s upcoming all-electric vehicle. Porsche would also be releasing products for home charging solutions. In a statement, Klaus Zellmer, President and CEO of PCNA, pointed out that this trifecta of charging systems — Electrify America’s infrastructure, Turbo Chargers in dealers, and home chargers — would ultimately free future Taycan owners from range anxiety.
“Every Porsche is a sports car with soul, and the Taycan is soul electrified. Together, Electrify America and our Porsche dealer network will provide a national infrastructure for DC fast charging that frees future Taycan owners from range anxiety. And Porsche home charging technology will turn the customer’s garage into the equivalent of a personal gas station,” the CEO said.
One thing that separates the Taycan from the conventional electric car is its capability to charge at an extremely rapid rate. Using 350 kW chargers, 800-volt technology, and the combined charging system (CCS) standard, the Taycan would be able to add more than 60 miles of range in just four minutes. That’s the fastest charging capabilities in the market today, roughly three times faster than Tesla’s expansive Supercharger Network.
To take advantage of the Taycan’s ultra-fast-charging capabilities, Electrify America’s highway stations would have a minimum of two 350 kW chargers per site, with additional stalls delivering up to 150 kW. Metro stations, on the other hand, would be capable of charging at speeds of up to 150 kW as well. Electrify America is expected to have 484 locations with 2,000 charging stalls completed or under construction by July 1, ahead of the Taycan’s release in late 2019.
While free 3-year unlimited access to Electrify America’s chargers would undoubtedly be a notable selling point for the Taycan, Porsche’s dealers across the country would also be offering their own charging perk. The automaker has noted that all 191 of its US dealers would be installing DC fast-charging stations for the upcoming vehicle, 120 of which would feature Porsche Turbo Charging — the company’s proprietary DC/CCS charging system that delivers up to 320 kW. Porsche dealers without Turbo Chargers would feature 50 kW fast chargers on site.
The Porsche Experience Center (PEC) in Atlanta, GA already hosts the company’s first Turbo Chargers. More of Porsche’s own charging stations are expected to be installed at the PEC in Los Angeles, CA in the near future.
The Porsche Taycan is the first all-electric vehicle from the automaker. In true Porsche spirit, the Taycan boasts impressive specs, from a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds, a top speed of 155 mph, and a range of 310 miles per charge. The company has also noted that just like its iconic vehicles like the legendary Porsche 911, the Taycan would be at home at the racetrack being driven to its limits. As noted by a Porsche brand ambassador in an email to an auto journalist last month, the Taycan would be offered in three models — an entry-level variant, the mid-range Taycan 4S, and the range-topping Taycan Turbo, which would likely cost over $130,000 before options.
Note from Editor:
Last Friday, Electrify America partially shut down its charging infrastructure due to safety concerns from HUBER+SUHNER, the supplier for the network’s charging cables. A spokesperson from Porsche Cars North America tells Teslarati some details on Electrify America’s partial network shutdown:
“Electrify America notified us immediately about the partial shutdown of their charging network due to a concern with one of their liquid-cooling cable suppliers. We are confident that Electrify America and their supplier will move quickly to complete an investigation and resolve this issue well in advance of our public launch of the Porsche Taycan late this year.”
Elon Musk
The Boring Company’s latest Tesla tunnel truck mod “fits like a glove”
The Boring Company has modified a Tesla powered tunnel truck to carry freight containers underground.
The Boring Company has found a second job for the Tesla hardware it already runs underground. In a post on X, Elon Musk’s tunneling company showed its latest Prufrock Liner Truck modified to carry a standard 20 foot shipping container. “Using TBC tunnels to transport freight,” the company wrote. “The latest Prufrock Liner Truck (using Tesla Model 3 batteries and drive units) has been modified to carry a standard 20′ shipping container. Fits like a glove!”
The photo shows a red container sitting on a long, low white chassis parked outside, with drive hardware visible at one end. The Boring Company did not say where or when freight hauling would start, which customers it has in mind, or how many trucks it is converting.
Using TBC tunnels to transport freight.
The latest Prufrock Liner Truck (using Tesla Model 3 batteries and drive units) has been modified to carry a standard 20’ shipping container.
Fits like a glove! https://t.co/VV0phWK4fc
— The Boring Company (@boringcompany) October 19, 2026
Until now, the liner trucks have hauled concrete. Teslarati reported in August on Liner Truck 3, which uses Model 3 battery packs and drive units to move more than 22,000 pounds of precast tunnel segments to the boring machine. It has 28 miles of range, tops out at 12 mph, and is piloted remotely from the company’s operations center in Texas. The freight version appears to be the same platform with a different bed, and The Boring Company has not said whether it will also be remotely piloted.
Freight has been on the company’s menu for years. When TBC updated its product lineup in 2021, its freight tunnel was described as sized to fit a standard shipping container, “barely.” The company later used the idea at Tesla’s own factory, where Prufrock 3 dug a tunnel to Giga Texas that now moves finished Cybertrucks away from the production line.
The Boring Company closed a $3 billion Series D in September at a $23 billion valuation, and Teslarati has covered how that money is tied to a UAE tunneling push and a faster Nashville build. In Nashville, Prufrock MB1 and MB2 are mining at the same time, and a third machine is expected to launch in late October. Each machine needs a steady supply of liner trucks, so any design that works for segments and containers alike gives the company more use out of the same Tesla parts.
The Vegas Loop remains the only Boring Company system open to the public, and it moves passengers in Tesla vehicles. A freight service would be a separate product, and the post gave no indication that one is close to launch. For now, it is a truck, a container and a short caption saying they fit together.
Elon Musk said he is planning to give “every one of his SpaceX shares to every kid in America” in 2027, stating that “this will be the first of many.”
SpaceX went public earlier this year, and its stock price has been relatively stable since leveling off shortly after its IPO. Based on its current price, it’s a gift of just over $10 billion to children across the United States.
It appears to be closely related to President Donald Trump’s bank accounts for children, which were set up earlier this year as Trump Accounts.
Just hours earlier, Anthropic had announced the establishment of its Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, “a new wholly-owned entity dedicated entirely to public benefit.” Musk responded by stating he recommended “giving the shares directly to the public,” and that he would be doing it that way.
Just a little bit later, Musk said children across the U.S. would be getting a share from him:
Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America.
This will be the first of many.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
There are roughly 70 million children, meaning someone under the age of 18, in the United States, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. Musk’s ownership of SpaceX stock shows he has around 849 million Class A shares of SpaceX stock, according to filings with the SEC.
Elon Musk revealed in a post on X that “Permits were impossible to get,” explaining the fate of The Boring Company’s most ambitious East Coast proposal.
The comment responded to a query about what became of his July 20, 2017 announcement that he had “just received verbal govt approval” for an underground Hyperloop connecting New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., capable of carrying passengers from the Big Apple to the Nation’s Capital in just 29 minutes.
The Boring Company receives verbal ‘approval’ to build NY to DC Hyperloop tunnel
The 2017 post, which envisioned city-center stations and multiple elevators in each city, sparked immediate scrutiny. Local and state officials in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and D.C. said they had no knowledge of any approval. A White House spokesperson confirmed only “promising conversations” about the transformative infrastructure.
Musk clarified shortly after that there was “still a lot of work” to do for formal approvals.
@cybrtrkguy Permits were impossible to get
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2026
Limited progress followed, as Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s administration issued a conditional utility permit and supported work near Fort Meade. In 2018, Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary permit for site preparation and excavation on a vacant lot at 53 New York Ave. NE in the NoMa neighborhood, which The Boring Company said could become a station.
A draft environmental assessment for a D.C.-Baltimore segment was released in 2019. Yet, by April 2021, the company had removed the project from its website, and the Federal Highway Administration reported receiving no indication of further interest. Communication with Maryland officials had ceased.
The full corridor would have required coordination among the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, the Federal Highway Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, and other agencies.
Environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, utility clearances, and approvals for novel infrastructure added to the overall complexity of the project and its approval.
Speculation on the permitting barriers centers around a few factors, but a multi-state, multi-level route involving unproven high-speed vacuum-tube technology inherently triggers exhaustive safety, environmental, and engineering reviews that can stretch for years, even for conventional projects.
There are also other elements, of course, like officials who may face political exposure if a privately funded, untested system encountered anything such as cost overruns, delays, or safety issues. On the outset of this project, there were limited things such as engineering plans or demonstrated technology maturity, which also added to the potential skepticism.
The East Coast vision for Boring Co., once framed as a privately funded revolution that could reshape Northeast travel, quietly ended without construction of the promised network. Musk’s recent statement frames the outcome as a regulatory impasse, unfortunate but not unexpected.
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